Sundaymail
Half of the boreholes in Harare’s western and northern districts are contaminated with human waste and could be potentially unsafe sources of drinking water.
Water samples from boreholes in these areas, heavily relied upon by residents due to erratic municipal water supply, showed traces of sewer and E. coli bacteria, capable of causing water-borne diseases like typhoid and cholera.
The discovery comes at a time when Harare was grappling with a raging cholera outbreak directly linked to water shortages.
Harare City Council is presently supplying around 300 megalitres of potable water a day to the city against a demand of 1 200 megalitres.
This shortfall forces residents to turn to alternative sources, including boreholes, for their daily water needs.
The presence of E. coli in the water samples indicates potential faecal contamination of the boreholes, raising serious concerns about health risks associated with consuming borehole water.
City of Harare epidemiology and disease control officer, Dr Michael Vere, confirmed the development.
As Harare City Council, we routinely do water quality monitoring in targeted areas where there will be cases of cholera and typhoid,” he said.
“Through our monitoring programme, we have found out that 50 percent of boreholes in the western and northern districts are contaminated with sewer and human waste.”
Harare’s western district covers suburbs such as Highfield, Glen Norah, Glen View, Mbare, Dzivaresekwa, Budiriro, Kuwadzana and Kambuzuma.
The northern district covers Borrowdale, Glen Lorne, Glenwood Park, Newlands, Mabelreign, Highlands, Mabvuku, Tafara, Hatcliffe and Waterfalls. Dr Vere said council cannot decommission the contaminated boreholes because of water shortages affecting the city.
Instead, he said authorities were installing inline chlorinators on some of the boreholes to ensure the water was fit for human consumption.
“Harare and surrounding areas like Chitungwiza need about 1 200 megalitres of water per day, but we are only able to produce 300 megalitres per day.
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