Facing a severe water shortage in Bulawayo, the Zimbabwe National Water Authority said it plans to start pumping water out of the Khami Dam reservoir although it was decommissioned in 1998 due to pollution from sewage and industrial waste.
Local officials are expressing strong reservations. ZINWA Southern Region Manager Matson Chidakwa was quoted by Web news agency ZimOnline as saying the water in Khami Dam is cleaner than that drawn from Lake Chivero, Harare’s main source.
He said ZINWA has funds to buy chemicals to treat the water to make it safe.
But Bulawayo City Councilor Matson Hlalo of Mzilikazi's Ward 8 told reporter Jonga Kandemiiri of VOA's Studio 7 for Zimbabwe that in any case the agency will be wasting its money because the pipes running to the city from the reservoir are corroded.