Gweru (The Times-New Ziana) – Some of the boreholes supplying water to Gweru residents are contaminated, a senior council official has said, sparking health fears in the city.

Gweru city council director of Engineering Services, Engineer Robson Manase said tests had confirmed that some boreholes were contaminated.

“I want to confirm that we have realised that from the tests that we do, some of our boreholes have been contaminated. It is true, when we do our water sampling with the health department, we have seen a contamination of a number of our boreholes,” he said.

As a precautionary measure, he said council was advising residents in affected areas to disinfect the water before consuming it.

“This is after boiling or applying disinfection tablets that we provide from our clinics and health centres.”

Eng Manase said the city’s incessant water challenges has made decommissioning of the boreholes not a possibility.

“The reason why we have not decommissioned the boreholes is because we have challenges at our water production infrastructure where some areas go for days without water. Knowing well that people need water to survive, we have not decommissioned,” he said.

The director of engineering services said decommissioning can only be considered if the city’s water supply from conventional sources improved.

“In the event that we build capacity to be able to supply water to every corner of the city, which is uninterrupted, we will be in a position to decommission these boreholes.”

He said council had also tried establishing health committees in the residential areas to concientise residents about the need to take precautions when using water from contaminated boreholes.

Council’s health department, he said, has gone on a vigorous education campaign on the issue, including door to door interactions with residents.
The Times-New Ziana