By Rex Mphisa
Beitbridge Municipality is now moving to the Mawale Hills Reservoir to ensure simultaneously supplying the entire town with water after clearing its Zimbabwe National Water Authority bill.
In an interview Town Clerk Loud Ramakgapola said the local authority had paid off its bill to Zinwa and was now moving towards supplying they whole town with water and not rotating as had been the situation.
“We have cleared Zinwa raw water debt and we expect water supply to improve,” he said.
“This week our teams were running tests on the new reservoir, the one on the Mawale Hill with the aim of supplying the whole town with water at a go rather than the current system where they have to close one side while supplying another section,” he said.
He asked residents not to worry about discoloured water coming out at first as this was being cleared.
“Unfortunately there was water in the pipe line which was dirty since the pipeline has not been in use for long. There was also failure of the valves as the team was testing the valves at the control box leading to a pipe burst which further contributed to the water coming out dirty,” he said.
“Please be assured that this is not the permanent colour of the water, also be assured that all the water supplied to the town by council is treated and tested to make sure the water quality meets the required standards.”
Raubex, who built the Mawàle Hills Reservoir as part of the modification of the Beitbridge Border Post and the Beitbridge Engineering to ensure the new development would answer permanently the water problems that have dogged Beitbridge for years.
Beitbridge water problems date back to years when Zinwa was refusing to hand over the water affairs of the border town to the municipality.
After a battle spanning years Zinwa let go but has imposed above Government recommended tariffs on its raw water supplied to the local authority.
Zinwa has also installed a bulk water pre-paid meter, the first ever in the Zimbabwe.