Zimpapers Logo

Mr Chideme

Samantha Chigogo Herald Correspondent
Harare residents should brace for a dry weekend as the city will tomorrow shut down its main water treatment plant, Morton Jaffray Waterworks, to facilitate the installation of new pumps.

This is the latest of the many shutdowns that Harare has conducted to restore normalcy in water supplies.

Acting corporate communications manager Mr Michael Chideme urged residents to store adequate supplies before the shutdown and use water sparingly.

“City of Harare advises all its water customers that there will be a complete shutdown of the Morton Jaffray Water Treatment Plant from Friday 17 June at 1700hrs to Monday 20 June at 0800hrs,” he said.

“The shutdown is to allow the scheduled installation of more new pumps at the water treatment plant under the ongoing rehabilitation programme.”

Mr Chideme said shutdowns were necessary to improve water and sanitation across the city.

“The shutdowns are meant to improve the efficiency of the water treatment plant which is currently operating below its design capacity,” he said.

“Over 70 percent of the work at Morton Jaffray has been done so far.”

Last month the city council said it was taking advantage of the winter season to complete all installations at the plant because water usage was at its lowest during that time.

Major maintenance works have been in process as part of the city’s implementation of the Harare Water and Sanitation Rehabilitation Project under a $144 million Chinese loan facility.

Upon completion of the project which began three years ago, the 60-year-old plant which is currently producing 400 megalitres of water a day is expected to improve to 670 megalitres.