Gweru (New Ziana) –There was panic in some suburbs in Gweru on Thursday after residents woke up to muddy water running out of their taps.
Gweru City Council spokesperson Vimbai Chingwaramusee however assured residents that the water not harmful, saying it was a result of routine pump maintenance.
“There was pump maintenance, which meant there was no water coming to the taps and along the way there was mud. We therefore start by flushing out the water after which it will become clean,” she said.
“It is not in any way harmful but we do not encourage people to drink dirty water and as a local authority that is why we gave an explanation why the water was coming out like that.”
Chingwaramusee said the situation had since normalized as it takes about five hours to flush out the entire system.
With reports of a cholera outbreak in the Harare, Gweru residents were fearing that the same situation would befall their city.
Gweru Residents and Ratepayers Association executive director Cornelius Selipiwe confirmed that residents in different parts of the city had reported receiving muddy water.
Selipiwe questioned why councillors who leave among the people failed to communicate the intention to flush out the system prior to the exercise.
“We thought these councillors are part of us but it seems we are not together,” he said.
Some residents said it was not fair for council to bill them for the muddy water as they did not use it.
New Ziana
