Category: WATER AND SANITATION

Zimbabwe Underground Water Could Run Dry In Our Lifetime

Michael Gwarisa

UNREGULATED pumping and extraction of ground water for both domestic and industrial purposes is putting a strain of Zimbabwe’s underground water, with indications that the resource could deplete in the foreseeable future, water experts have warned. By Michael Gwarisa The warning comes in the wake of increased extraction of underground water due to unplanned urbanization which has resulted in the sprouting of new settlements where land developers and city authorities are settling people in areas where there are no basic amenities such as piped running water. Renowned Hydrologist with the…

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How Stoneridge, An Informal Settlement Uses Innovative Earthworm Technology To Manage Waste

Michael Gwarisa

IN 2019, the City of Harare hinted on plans to regularise Stoneridge, which is an illegal settlement 15 kilometers South East of the centre of Harare and houses not less than 39 000 households. However, while plans are still underway to formalise settlement and evidence of modern housing and road infrastructure already showing in some parts of Stoneridge where property developers have bought, there still remains a sizable number of people who are still informally settled. By Michael Gwarisa Majority of these people lack basic amenities owing to their settlement…

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Turning a Dump-Site into a fountain Of Hope: How MSF’s Sanitary Seals Are Purifying Underground Water in Harare’s Cholera Hotspots

Michael Gwarisa

Mrs Netsai Manthenga (46), a resident of Mbare National, recalls how they used to wake up as early as 4:00 in the morning to queue for water at Stoddard Hall in Mbare only to return home around mid-day. Elderly residents who failed to cope with the shoving and pushing at the water points would at times get their water from a nearby stream where raw sewage and dirty water that is usually drained from the Swimming pool nearby flows. By Michael Gwarisa It wasn’t easy,” she says, “Imagine spending eight…

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City of Harare/Nanotech Ink Water Chemicals Deal

Healthtimes

Council is set to save up to US$300 000 per month through using an alternative water chemical to be produced at Morton Jaffray Water Treatment Works. HCC Comms The City signed a deal with Nanotech Solutions which will see the two partners using modern technology to produce water chemicals locally. Speaking during a Special Council meeting held at Town House recently, acting finance director Mr Godfrey Kusangaya said financing the Nanotech Solutions deal for alternative water chemicals will save the City more than US$300 000 per month. Once we start…

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The critical role of sanitation infrastructure in African cities

Healthtimes

As cities in Africa continue to grow at a rapid pace, the importance of sanitation services must not be overlooked – we must get it right. By Agathe Nougaret   By 2050, the World Economic Forum predicts that more than 1.3 billion people in Africa will call a city home. Such a large number of people living in growing cities could pose problems, so we asked our experts: What are the top three types of infrastructure to focus on for the sustainable development of cities and urban areas in Africa?…

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Mat North and Masvingo Provinces Have Largest Number Of People Practicing Open Defecation

Healthtimes

THE number of households still using the bush as toilets have remained high in Matabelenand North and Masvingo provinces. Staff Reporter According to data from a Housing Characteristics and Living Conditions Survey that has been released by the Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency(ZIMSTAT), 50.0 percent of households in Mat North province still practice open defecation while followed by Masvingo where 35 percent of the households are also using the bush to relieve themselves. Mat South and Midlands province both had 31.5% followed by Mashonaland West which had 23.6 percent, Mashonaland Central…

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Damafalls Residents Go For Three Weeks Without Refuse Collection

Michael Gwarisa

RESIDENTS of Damafalls, Chipukutu, some parts of Zimre and Ruwa are up in arms against the Ruwa Local board for failing to honor their refuse collection schedule which has resulted in them going for three weeks with piles of garbage at their gates and homes. By Michael Gwarisa When this publication visited some households in Damafalls close to Wenera Shopping centre ad some in Phase 2, an unpleasant odor from garbage containers could be sensed from a distance. In some instances, garbage can be seen scattered all over as dogs…

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Gwanda wins water treatment plant

Healthtimes

GWANDA Municipality now runs the water treatment plant it has been battling to take from the Zimbabwe National Water Authority (ZINWA). By Kudakwashe Pembere This handing over of the water plant to the council comes following intense advocacy by Matebeleland South MP Honourable Sipho Ndlovu-Mokone for ZINWA to relinquish it to the local authorities of Gwanda. Hon. Mokone-Ndlovu said she prays there won’t be any new problems related to water issues. It is quite applauded that Zinwa has official handed the plant to Gwanda Municipality,a move that we have been…

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MPs demand sole supplementary budget allocation for water, sanitation and hygiene in Zim

Healthtimes
Picture From Nehanda Radio

THE water, sanitation and hygiene situation in Zimbabwe needs to be declared a state of emergency while there is need for a sole supplementary budget allocation towards WASH, a parliamentarian said last week. By Kudakwashe Pembere This was a motion was raised by MDC-Alliance Member of Parliament for Warren Park Shakespear Hamauswa last week in Parliament. Now therefore, this House resolves to urgently request for a supplementary budget from Ministry of Finance and Economic Development which will be devoted solely for water and sanitation in the year 2022, in view…

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Water and Sanitation is before all else a Human Issue

Healthtimes

DAKAR, Senegal: Drinking water, decent toilets and good hygiene practices are basic and essential elements for all. These elements unfortunately remain theoretical especially in 2022; more so in Africa where only one in four Africans has access to a safe source of drinking water, with more than 200 million people not having access to toilets and more than 80% of human excreta being discharged into the environment without treatment. By Laetitia Sadiya Delaunay Badolo Access to safe drinking water and sanitation are both a fundamental human right recognised by the…

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