By Daniel Itai.
Harare, Zimbabwe. (News of The South) – Residents of Zimbabwe’s second largest city Bulawayo, will now have to resort to synchronized flushes as a way of blocking the city’s sewage systems.
Due to the severe drought that has hit the Southern African country the city has had to rationalise water for up to three days.
This has caused havoc with the city’s sewage reticulation, as the system needs regular flows of water through it.
As a solution, the Bulawayo City Council (BCC) has called on residents who do have water, to flush their toilets at the same time each day, for 30 minute periods between 6am and 6.30am and between 8pm and 8.30pm.
BCC director of engineering services Engineer Simela Dube said, “because of limited water availability, we don’t have sufficient sewage flows in the system to clean itself. The sewage system is designed in such a manner that because of the peak flows in the morning, when residents are flushing or bathing, it discharges and cleans itself.
We are encouraging our consumers to practice this every other time when water is restored in their areas. It does work if we all co-operate. We need the cleansing to try and minimise blockages in the system.”
The city’s dam levels are currently below 37 percent. This is the third time this method has been introduced to the Bulawayo residents following the 2007 and 2012 drought.
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