THE Bulawayo City Council has started delivering water to residents in most high-density suburbs using bowsers as most areas continue to suffer from a tight water-shedding regime announced by the local authority.

Council announced that some parts of Pumula South, Emganwini and Magwegwe will only be reconnected to tap water if the city receives rainfall for the coming summer season around November. Bulawayo also introduced a tight water 108-hour weekly water-shedding in all residential areas, with indications that it would be extended.

Residents at the High density suburb of Pumula South were now solely relying on bowsers and a few boreholes dotted around the suburb for water. The residents are given 120 litres per household.

However, some residents said they were disappointed with the water allocation which was not enough to meet daily needs. Bulawayo supply dams are at 32 percent full as the water bodies received insignificant flows during the 2019/2020 rainy season.

Mrs Emma Kawara of Pumula South said water has become one of the biggest headaches for residents in the area.

“For the past two weeks we have not had water in our homes and this has gone out of hand as we also do not have a borehole that services our community. We rely on a borehole that is near Pumula South Clinic and that is about two kilometres away,” said Mrs Kawara.

Mr Elias Sibanda from the same area said residents were resorting to sourcing water from unclean and unhygienic places.

“There are pits that are in the veld that separates Pumula South and Pumula East and as residents, we are now collecting water from the pits. The water is dirty but we have no other choice as the council is doing nothing to make sure that we get water from our taps,” said Mr Sibanda.

The water crisis has worsened at a time when the world is being encouraged to maintain high standards of hygiene in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

A council official who spoke on condition of anonymity said the supply of water using water bowsers was meant to ensure that people at least have something “in these difficult times”.

“The supply of water using the water bowsers has been ongoing since we introduced the water shedding programme and it is for those suburbs who go beyond the water shedding schedule without water. We also supply water to areas where there are funerals during water shedding,” he said.

The local authority’s senior public relations officer, Mrs Nesisa Mpofu, is on record as saying the city was failing to sustain the daily water consumption rate, hence the affected areas will now be serviced with bowsers and boreholes.