An overview of the city of Gweru, Zimbabwe's water supply chain capacity: towards a

demand-oriented approach in domestic water service delivery

Author(s): Winmore Kusena and Heinz Beckedahl
Source: GeoJournal , 2016, Vol. 81, No. 2 (2016), pp. 231-242
Published by: Springer

Stable URL: http://www.jstor.com/stable/44076363

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GeoJournal (2016) 81:231-242
DOI 10.1 007/s 1 0708-01 4-961 5- 1 CrossMark

An overview of the city of Gweru, Zimbabwe's water supply

chain capacity: towards a demand-oriented approach
in domestic water service delivery
Winmore Kusena • Heinz Beckedahl

Published online: 12 December 2014

© Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2014

Abstract Following complaints about water short-

monitor water use in the city. Therefore, strong
ages in some areas of Gweru, the paper assessed thefinancial injection is required to support staff and
availability of enabling capacities to efficiently andresuscitate the reticulation system. Given the perpetual
water shortages in Gweru and the status quo in the
sufficiently deliver water to the residents of Gweru in
line with the existing level of demand. The keysupply chain, water demand management strategies,
wastewater use and consumer education are conse-
inspected capacity aspects were infrastructure, human
resources, finances and physical availability of raw quently proposed as measures that would ensure
water at source. Purposively selected informants from
continuous water supply for all needs in the city.
Zimbabwe National Water Authority (ZINWA) and
Gweru city council (GCC) provided data on the
Keywords Water supply • Capacities • Service
infrastructural, financial and human resources situa-delivery • Gweru • Demand management
tion of GCC. Dam levels data for Gweru' s three supply
dams were obtained from ZINWA records through the
assistance of Sanyati Catchment Hydrologist. The raw
Introduction
water availability was assessed with the aid of Mann-
Kendall test using alO years period data set from 2003
The UN's 2002 Committee on Economic, Social and
to 2012 for trend analysis. Findings revealed that the
Cultural Rights in the General comment 15 stated;
water sources were not experiencing major changes in
water levels, to be precise, the changes were insignif-
"The human right to water is indispensable for leading
icant. However, given the increase in population anda life in human dignity. It is a prerequisite for the
demand, any slightest negative change in the supply
realization of other human rights." For that reason,
water is not an optional consumer item. Rather, it is
chain would further widen the gap between supply and
demand. The study also uncovered that GCC had
essential for human life and its availability presents a
key resource for all economic activities (Gillespie
challenges in terms of the infrastructure, mainly due to
financial constraints. Notably, GCC was not experi- 2005; Tekken and Kropp 2012). Globally, water
encing high staff turnover, but it was however,resources are increasingly under pressure, mainly
seriously under staffed and failing to effectively
due to inter alia, changing lifestyles and population
growth (Amell 2004). It is therefore imperative that
enabling capacities are built and developed to ensure
W. Kusena (El) • H. Beckedahl
University of KwaZulu Natal, Durban, South Africa sustainable water supply for citizens. Despite unwa-
e-mail: winniekusena@gmail.com vering efforts by governments and local authorities

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 232 GeoJournal (2016) 81:231-242

world over to improve

allocation of water resources; infrastruc
and pollution as factors
resources that limit people's
capacities in access to sufficient
the water water. The samesup
have been subject of inadequate
pointing capacity was reflected dwin
towards in the
water for the 2010 report on Gweru's
supply even water situation,
atwhere resi-
source
climatic conditions (Khan
dents in the high and
density suburbs of Mkoba 19 and Ha
tive changes in Senga experienced
the water water shortages during the peak due
levels of
further cripples the rainy season
the whilst Gwenhoro dam was
chances of almost mee
full
demand for the (Shava 2013). Therefore, challengesespecially
resource, in water supply
Africa. cannotwith
Identified solely be attributed to water shortages at
unfavourabl
(Hebertson and sources as the problem
Tate 2001) might be embedded
the in other
regio
when it comes to general
facets of the system. developm
require financial Nonetheless,
backup. COHRE (2007) This
posit that the main
impl
water supply challenge toare
issues water provision
likelyis neither waterto
stress nor
man
financial limitation
the scarcity of water.
and The majorwater
problem is the s
problems are governance of complex.
rather potable water and the attitudes of the
In particular, consumers during utilisation.
increased Water stress and deman
water scarcity
of Zimbabwe is always outstripping
are symptoms of the overall poor governance of public
zungu and and natural resources
Machiridza (COHRE 2007). Garcia-Ruiz
2005). The Zi
water supply et al. (2011) puts forward
situation was that an effective
reporte water
state than ever resource
before management (Matsa
depends on supporting and
2012)
have been enabling governance
worsening by structures
day and the enforcement
and th
ues to become unbearable. There is scramble for the of policy frameworks. However, strategies for the
available limited water for different uses. The year protection of water resources are still insufficient to
2010 was punctuated with a cholera outbreak that account for challenges that result from the water
claimed more than 4,000 people and that was one hugedemand of the growing populations (Sowers et al.
symptom of water shortage (The Standard 2014). As 2011), especially in Zimbabwe and Africa at large.
the population continues to grow, increased demand However, the notion that water shortage is a product of
for water is inevitable. Population growth represents apoor governance is controversial as other scholars and
major cause of water stress especially if it is not empirical evidence make it irrefutably visible that
accompanied by measures to increase supply and water, formerly assumed unlimited in supply, is now
demand management capacity (Falkernmark and scarce (Falkernmark and Molden 2008; Lobell et al.
Molden 2008). The United Nations Development 2008; Matsa 2012; Rosegrant and Cai 2000). Many
Programme (2009) observes that the current high populations are aware of the limited carrying capac-
demand for water is likely to increase water scarcity as ities of the resources they use and the complexity of
most people in both urban and rural areas directly challenges that emanate from increasing demands and
compete for water for livelihood. Bogardi et al. (201 1) that they require not only simplistic solutions.
believes that the combination of growing water Domestic water supply in urban Zimbabwe has
demand and increasingly limited raw water availability been a challenge since the early 90s with so much
will lead to severe water supply problems if notconcerted efforts from the central government, donor
compensated by innovative approaches, mainly community and the local authorities to try and improve
through investments in water technologies and water the situation. A report on Bulawayo 24 News (2014)
demand management. highlighted that the Criterion waterworks in Bulawayo
Demonstrating the need for innovation, Musingafi was dilapidated and the authorities have been in a
(2013) paradoxically points out that there could be number of negotiations with potential investors to try
sufficient freshwater in the world for everyone'sand resuscitate the system. In a different case,
essential personal, domestic and agricultural needs Rwakurumbira (2011) observed that since the year
but cited lack of distribution networks and working 2000, Harare City faced challenges in providing water
systems to extract groundwater or harvest rainwater;and sanitation services to its residents. The infrastruc-
exclusion from these services or facilities; inequitable ture was aged and needed urgent rehabilitation yet the

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 GeoJournal (2016) 81:231-242 233

council had no financial resources to rehabilitate the in the development of a sustainable water supply for
sewer system as well as the water production and Gweru in the face of changing conditions, especially
distribution systems. The aforementioned challenges the city's demographic status. This echoes Woodhill's
are still a pointer towards incapacitation in the water Capacity Development Theory, where it is acknowl-
supply chain in urban areas of Zimbabwe. Gweru edged that capacity development is connected to local
urban is not immune to some of the abovementioned capacity and is therefore an endogenous process of
ills. change. The process is often referred to as "dynamic"
Given the economic situation of Zimbabwe from because it requires constant adaptation to cope with
the early 2000 to 2008, the water sector failure was rapidly changing environments (James 1994; Morgan
inevitable. However, the water shortage situation2005). In the process, people, society and organisa-
seems to have been exacerbated by the traditionaltions strengthen, create, adapt and maintain capacity
supply-oriented approach which is more consumptive over time (OECD 2006). For the city of Gweru,
yet many local authorities still lack adequate data onpopulation growth and urban expansion are the major
the general water supply chain for their particular drivers of change that ought to be considered at any
cities. The urban water system requires a paradigm given point in order to maintain adequate water supply
shift to a demand oriented management becausecapacities.
concentrating on expensive water production without In light of the preceding discussion, this paper
accurate essential water demand forecasting is rather assesses the water supply situation in the city of Gweru
suicidal as water use ought to be monitored as well. in terms of its ability to sustainably supply water to
Hebertson and Tate (2001) indicate that strategies andresidents all year round. The case in question is not
data on water demand are limited in many southernpeculiar to Gweru; therefore the paper has resonance
African countries. There are a lot of uncertainties that cuts across all cities in the country and interna-
tionally, particularly third world countries. Problem
especially in the demographic assumptions for water
demand forecasts. solving suggestions raised for Gweru will be indis-
Batchelor et al. (2003) argue that knowledge of the pensable for other cities. The paper informs policy in
current status quo in water resources and trends in the dimension of water service delivery and its
demand and use is a precondition to successful water demand management in relation to existing capacities
management. Communities have insufficient knowl- in any given locality. The assessment interrogated the
edge of their water resources, in terms of quantity at status quo of the water supply chain capacities from
any given time and lack a clear management strategy. the broad spectrum of the physical availability of
In most cases, crisis management is then employed water in dams to human capacities that would ensure
when shortages are apparent. In the case of Zimbabwe, water supply in the city amid the rise in demand. Water
particularly Gweru, the climate is predominantly demand can only be met when people have knowledge
tropical with three seasons that constitute the hot of the stock of resources available which in most cases
dry, hot wet and cold dry seasons (Vincent and when revealed become an awakening call. Precisely,
Thomas 1960). The greater part of the year though the rationale behind this paper is to establish the state
sometimes cold or hot, is dry, hence the need to and extent of changes in the available water supply
properly manage the available water in order to ensure capacities of Gweru over time; and having a baseline
year round water supply to the residents. of the potential subsequent implications of the current
Literature on the capacity of Gweru city to provide situation on availability of municipal water in the city.
water for citizens has been scarce. Whenever avail-

able; it is mainly on only one or two water supply

Description of the study area
capacity aspects, without a holistic approach. No
Gweru is Zimbabwe's fourth largest city, with a total
studies have been carried out on Gweru' s water supply
human
situation from an integrated approach that analyzes at population of 157,337 as at 2012 according to
one goal the state of all aspects that are criticalZimStats
to (2012). It is located at 19°25'S 29°50,E and
domestic water supply. The current state of water lies about 285 km south west of the capital Harare
supply capacities were assessed for purposes of (Fig. 1 ). The city has three domestic water supply dams
generating information that would assist authorities
namely Whitewaters, Gwenhoro and Amapongokwe.

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 234 GeoJournal (2016) 81:231-242

Fig. 1 Map of the study area showing th

location of Gweru in Zimbabwe, other m

However, order in
from Rusape through
to Harareease to Bulawayo
pressu
and it is at
tioned an altitude of
sources, the city has1,422 m above sea level (Matsa 2012). an
(Ngamo) that supplies water in
industrial Data collection and
activities andanalysis urban gre
Whitewaters is situated 13 km north-eastern direc-

tion from Gweru along Mvuma road, while Ama- The paper is jointly qualitative and quantitative in
pongokwe and Gwenhoro lie approximately 45 km nature. Data to unveil the water supply capacity and
south of the city. Whitewaters supplies mainly the situation were obtained from both primary and
eastern and north eastern areas of Gweru which secondary data sources. The capacity aspects in
include Hwahwa Prisons, Thornhill Airbase and question were municipal infrastructural, financial, at
Ridgemont suburb. Gwenhoro and Amapongokwe source water and human resource capacities to supply
supply the high density areas of Gweru includingwater to the city. The capacity of the water sources
Mkoba, Mutapa, Ascort, and Senga as well as the low (dams) that supply Gweru urban were examined
and medium density areas of Lundi Park, Southdowns,through an assessment of the dam levels over a period
Kopje area, Southview among others. of 10 years to track the changes that took place. This
Similar to many other areas in Zimbabwe, Gweru' sassessment was based on data from all the three
climate is a tropical one, which experiences a summer domestic supply dams from 2003 to 2012. The period
season of about 8 months, thus from October to March2003 was chosen as baseline because that was when
(Vincent and Thomas 1960). The city is also punctu- Zimbabwe National Water Authority (ZINWA) began
ated with warm dry days and extremely cold nights to effectively monitor water sources through catch-
from June to August and the average temperature isment councils. Data on dam levels were obtained from
around 20 °C (Vincent and Thomas 1960). The cityZINWA records with the assistance of the Sanyati
lies on Zimbabwe's central watershed which stretches Catchment Officer as the key informant. A linear trend

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 Geo Journal (2016) 81:231-242 235

line was then urban greening

fitted to in order
the to cut on treatment costs.
data and
done to test However, it is important
for trends into highlight
water that of major
leve
Kendall test. The interest
Mann-Kendall test
in the paper were the three domestic water is
whether Y values tend to increase or decrease with supply dams.
time (monotonie change) including accounting for Unlike Ngamo dam, domestic water sources were
seasonality (Hirsch et al. 1982). The R2 value and theclosely monitored by ZINWA and the City Council
significance of the trend were used to test for trend. such that data on the levels of the three dams were
Key informants from Gweru city council (GCC)readily available and trend was checked. In the
were similarly of importance as they provided data on
selected 10-year period, the key informants indicated
the infrastructural, financial and human resources that the dam levels had been fluctuating as a result of,
capacities of GCC. The three key informants selected
inter alia, changes in rainfall amounts, siltation and
from GCC were from the engineering, human
land uses.

resources and treasury departments. Using face to

face interviews, with semi-structured questions thePercentage changes in dam levels
researcher solicited data on the current state of finance,
infrastructure and expertise availability. The annual average changes in the three dam levels
exhibited the traditionally projected drought frequen-
cies for Zimbabwe (Department of Metrological
Results and discussions Services 1981). After the 1982-1983, 1992-1993
and the 2002-2003 drought intervals, it was highly
Water supply sources of Gweru likely that Gweru would experince a decline in water
levels in 2012 and 2013. With regards to the main
water supply source, Gwenhoro was on average 45 %
The city of Gweru draws its water from four different
full in 2003 and the level did not deviate much in 2012
dams namely Amapongokwe, Gwenhoro, Whitewa-
as it was 42 %. However, the water source was
ters and Ngamo. Amapongokwe is the largest water
expected to be lower than 42 % in 2013 owing to the
supply dam for Gweru urban with a capacity of 37.58
effects of weather changes and increased water
(xlO6 m3) whilst Gwenhoro is second largest with
31.36 (xlO6 m3) capacity. However, because of demand
its as a result of urban population growth.
proximity and connection to the works, waterChanges
is in landuses within the catchments were
normally pumped from Gwenhoro to municipal puri-
further pointed out as affecting the water sources as
siltation was evident due to economic activities that
fication works that is approximately 2 km away from
the dam. Whitewaters dam is the third largest of included
the farming and mining which degraded the
water
four dams that supply water to Gweru. When hundred sources.

percent full, the expected capacity for WhitewatersBy virtue of its location and area serviced (which is
comparatively
dam is 4.90 (x 106 m3). Ngamo is the smallest with a smaller), Whitewaters dam was a
relatively
capacity of 2.88 (x 106 m3) and supplies raw water to reliable source of water for Gweru since
the city for industrial purposes. The dam predomi-
the source was above 90 % full for the greater part of
nantly serviced Bata Shoe Company and Anchor
the period under study. However for the years 2003
Yeast, however during the period of study, Ngamo
and 2012, the average levels for the dam were 74 and
dam service extended to urban greening largely 89 respectively, further supporting the drought pro-
because of lower production levels in industries as a
jection literature pegged at 10 years intervals (Depart-
result of downsizing (Dewa et al. 2013). The Ngamoment of Metrological Services 1981). Nonetheless, it
has to be noted that the recent report from the
water project was regarded vital as it reduced pressure
on the limited resources for water treatment. The dam meteorological department of Zimbabwe indicated
once had a treatment plant which eventually failed. an increase in the frequency of droughts from the
However, after a cost benefit analysis to resuscitate the generally agreed 10 years interval to as short as
Ngamo project, the city council endorsed it prudent to 5 years (Department of Meteorological Services
use the water source to supply activities that would 2014). This could explain why the year 2007 also
thrive without treated water such as industries and experienced lower dam levels in all the three dams.

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 236 GeoJournal (2016) 81:231-242

Supporting the changes,

Significance the
of differences in dam levels dam
highest levels with some seasons e
flows during After realising
the period some percentage changes over years
2009-2010
Despite annual differences,
and in the
seasons, the trend analysis showed that there
differed with seasons even for Gwenhoro and Ama- were no significant changes in water volumes in
pongokwe despite the fact that the dams are in the Whitewaters (R2 = 0.123, p > 0.005), Gwenhoro
same catchment (Runde catchment). However, rate of (R2 = 0.0369, p > 0.05) and Amapongokwe Dam
abstraction is an factor that explains the difference. (R2 = 0.2114, p > 0.05) meaning that the combined
The area serviced by Gwenhoro dam is much wider available water volume for the dams in Gweru did not

and it is the main source of water despite being the change significantly over the years (R2 = 0.032,
second largest. Gwenhoro dam directly connects to the p > 0.05). For Whitewaters (Fig. 2a) and Ama-
treatment plant, making it a cheaper option in water pongokwe (Fig. 2c), the general trend shows an
supply. This explains the relatively lower volumes increase in dam volume from 2003 to 2012, which
compared to Amapongokwe even during the rain contributed to an increase in combined volume
seasons because water is continuously pumped out (Fig. 2d). Only Gwenhoro dam had a decreasing trend
Table 1. in water volume. These results point to the fact that
Notably, with the exception of Gwenhoro the waterthere were other factors contributing to the challenges
sources seemed to have been above 50 % during the of water shortage in the city of Gweru other than a
period under study. This created room to furtherdecline in water volume in the supply dams. These
factors are directly linked to the capacity of GCC to
interrogate the water supply system to identify the root
causes of the challenges to adequate water supply in draw, treat and distribute quality water to its residents.
Gweru. Although percentage changes in dam water The findings therefore support the information from
levels were identified annually as well as seasonally, itkey respondents that human, financial and technical
capacities to supply water in Gweru were limited. The
was highly unlikely that this would affect the city's
water situation to the magnitude it had manifested. Inwater problem therefore becomes multi-faceted,
actual fact, any pressure on Gwenhoro dam wasrequiring an integrated planning that combines supply
ordinarily supposed to translate into a change ofand demand management in order to achieve sustain-
source to Amapongokwe and not necessarily a short-able water provision in the city.
age in supply. It was obtained that Environmental The declining trend in Gwenhoro dam though slight
Flows were observed in the water sources; however, and statistically insignificant, has serious implication
the only challenge was on the amount of water to be on the city's water supply situation mainly because the
left since the authorities still used dam meters (an particular dam is the one linked to the water treatment
average of 20 m) without taking into account theplant. Water from Amapongokwe was in some
capacity and designs of dams. Mazvimavi (2003) also instances pumped into Gwenhoro first for treatment.
had it that the data for determining Zimbabwe flowGiven the infrastructural and financial state of GCC,
regimes to be maintained along rivers for environ- changing water source could only exacerbate the water
mental purpose was very limited. supply problem. Unfortunately, in October 2013

Table 1 Different dam levels from an updated report as at the time of data collection (May 2013 monthly report)

Dam Dam level May 2013 capacity May 2013 April 2013 capacity April 2013 Total raw
(m) (xl06m3) % full (xl06m3) % full abstracted (m3)

Amapongokwe 95.75 21.30 49 22.00 52 606,000

Gwenhoro 90.84 7.00 9 7.75 12 591,570
Whitewaters 99.41 4.05 82 4.16 85 79,010
Ngamo 98.21 865 56 899 58 2,144
Total storage 33.21 49 35.00 49 1,278,724

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 GeoJournal (2016) 81:231-242 237

Fig. 2 Trend of dam water levels from 2

the three dams

Gwenhoro dam was decommissioned as water could area, which was approximated to have an approximate
no longer be abstracted from the dam for ecological
number of 4,000 housing units such that any slightest
decline in water volume at source might lead to water
reasons and the only survival strategy that was left was
to pump water from Amapongokwe whilst waiting shortages
for in the long run.
the rainy season. Therefore, the problem was not with
water at source but the infrastructural capacity to
The state of the water reticulation system in Gweru
pump it.
It was further unveiled that the city of Gweru was Gweru has two treatment plants. These two, White-
continually expanding, giving rise to new residential waters and Gwenhoro water treatment works were old

areas that were supposed to rely on the same strained and sometimes underperformed. Residents in some
water supply capacities. Examples included the crop- areas, especially in the high density suburbs of Mkoba
ping up of Hertfordshire phase 1 and 2 suburbs, Mkoba 19 and 20 went for close to two weeks or more without
14 extension, Woodlands Park and infills in almost water for the greater part of the year 2013 because the
every residential area in a bid to cope with housing city council did not have the funds to replace or fix the
challenges. Meanwhile, the same sources of water infrastructure. This phenomenon was not endemic to
remained. To make matters worse, a number of Gweru only as Harare, Masvingo and Bulawayo areas
urbanités now relied on municipal water to sustain were experiencing the same problem (Hove and
their gardens to ensure household food security as a Tirimboi 2011; Makwara and Tavuyanago 2012;
result of poor economic performance that had ren- Nhlanhla 2008). Although the city of Gweru is fourth
dered a significant number of people unemployed.largest in terms of population in the country, the water
Whilst Whitewaters had been a reliable source, it was reticulation infrastructure was still incongruous with
now faced with a challenge of supplying Hertfordshire the population levels. The pumps at Gwenhoro were

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 238 Geojournal (2016) 81:231-242

not powerful enough to equipment

Table 2 Raw water pumping pump wate
at the four water
sources
city. The dilapidated state of pump
for high altitude
Pump areas like Mkoba
Condition Remark
water (Matsa 2012).
no.
This challenge
borehole sinking in Gweru, in som
Gwenhoro pumpsets
NGOs or the city council itself to
1 Good Working well
water problems. As a matter of
2 Good Working well
infrastructural problems due to in
3 Good Working well
aging pipes and the incapacity of c
4 Good Working well
to cope with the demand.
5 Fair Unbalanced phases of the motor
However, interview responses fro
Amapongokwe pumpsets
neer indicated a potential chan
1 Good Pumpsets commissioned and working
infrastructure. GCC well had acquired
were yet to be installed. The instal
2 Good Pumpsets commissioned but developed a
pumps, one from theproblem Germany
on the shaft Te
and the other two from
3 Good Working well the loc
deemed a solution to
4 Down Empty bay water pro
challenges had continued
Whitewaters pumpsets
to troubl
inadequate pumping capacity. Durin
1 Good Working well
study, Gwenhoro water works had
2 Good Working well
water pumps, which however took
3 Good Working well
causing persistent water paucity in
Ngamo
raw water was available. The installation of additional
1 Good Working well
three pumps augmenting the existing three to make
2 Good Working well
them six was expected to raise the pumping capacity to
the extent where areas such as Mkoba 19 would Source : Engineering Services Department Report, May 201

receive tape water. Meanwhile the pumping of water

was very weak and slow such that the city reservoir
Table 3 Treated water pump sets
rarely stored water even for near future use. Table 2
Pump no. Condition Remarks
shows the condition of the water pumping equipment
at the four sources (raw water pumpsets). Highlift pumpsets
1 Good Working well
Table 2 indicates that the pump stations in the
2 Good Working well
water supply system were above average as more than
3 Down Motor under repair
80 % of the raw water pumpsets were in good working
4 Down Empty bay
condition. However, the research revealed that GCC
5 Down Empty bay
was experiencing challenges in pumping treated water
to the city. The pumped raw water was supposed to 6 Down Empty bay
7 Good Working well
have highlift pumps with a capacity that corresponded
with the pumped water in order to increase the 8 Down Preparation underway for replacement
pressure. Table 3 shows the condition of the treated
9 Good Working well
water pumpsets that were situated at Gwenhoro Whitewaters
and treated water pumps
Whitewaters water works. 1 Good Working well
Around 60 % of the treated water pumps were not 2 Down Pump obsolete
in a good working condition. This implied that despite 3 Good Working well
availability of raw water, Gweru experienced water
Source : Engineering Services Department Report, Ma
shortages due to infrastructural incapacity. However,
the question which then arises is: in the event of most prudent way would be to embark on
adequate infrastructure, is Gweru capable of sustain- water demand management measures as a supp
ing sufficient supply to satisfy the demand? Or the and permanent way of managing water supp

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 GeoJournal (2016) 81:231-242 239

demand issues; However, as indicated by the education

including finance department,
the process, in order to change
there was general willingness among residents to settleth
use levels and mindset towards the resource that water bills to avoid penalties. Nonetheless, extrava-
requires concerted efforts; if ever sustainability is togant
be use of water was witnessed. Madebwe and
achieved. Madebwe (2011) concur with this finding as they
pointed to lavish use of water in Gweru, especially
Human resources and water system knowledge amongst the high-income households, coupled with a
availability relief in the economic performance since 2009 that
gave many residents a fair capacity to pay for services.
The July 2013 Chamber secretary's report indicated The municipality however lacked the capacity to
that the labour turnover as at July 2013 was at 0.17 %. constantly do check-ups on the efficiency of water use
This implies that very few joined or left the organi- in residential areas. Despite specific bylaws that
sation. However, for the engineering services, the encouraged water conservation, the residents, mainly
authorized strength or staff compliment was pegged at in southern low and medium density suburbs of Gweru
390. Unfortunately this was authorized in 1980 and surreptitiously used hosepipes to water their gardens.
there had not been a review upwards to cushion the This was done during weekends and after working
expansion in infrastructure and population. Moreover, hours when they least expected municipal patrols.
the transfer of knowledge from the few old employees Regrettably, water consumption and consumer habits
to the younger generation of workers had not been were rarely monitored because of inadequate person-
smooth. Sometimes critical information was deliber- nel to carry out regular assessments in residential areas
ately personalised in order to avoid easy replacement.to ensure efficient and legal use of water. This was as a
For instance GCC did not have an accurate and result of the stringent budget GCC was working with,
consolidated layout map of the pipe network. Such reducing the wage bill.
towards
information remained in the hands of very few people
who tended to monopolise it, as a strategy to Financial capacity
manipulate the system and remain indispensable.
It was indicated that GCC lacked adequate staff, It was revealed that there was a wide gap between the
particularly for water use monitoring and this led to existing water reticulation system, the demand for
abuse of the resource by consumers who sometimes service and the available financial capacity to improve
diverted domestic water for other purposes such as the state of affairs. The situation was exacerbated by
farming. Another challenge troubling the city of changes in the demographic pressures and a decline in
Gweru was Non-Revenue Water (NRW) due to the macro economic performance. The growing num-
vandalism by farmers, mostly those who lived along bers of people in Gweru led to increased water usage.
the treated water pipe line. As a result of low prospects More so, high unemployment rate in the city saw a
in rain fed farming, some of the farmers resorted to number of people relying on municipal water for
stealing treated expensive water during its transfer livelihood, through backyard farming. Pressure was
from Gwenhoro to the city. To worsen the situation, overwhelming on the already burdened infrastructure
the farmers had no means of curbing the vandalised which was rarely serviced due to inadequate funds.
pipes as a result they would be left unattended for a In January 2013, when GCC budget for the year
long time. By the time the cases were reported or 2013 was presented, the economic environment had
discovered during maintenance routines, a lot of water not changed much from what it was in 201 1 and 2012.
would have been lost. The sources from which GCC generated revenue were
Water disconnections were the commonly used
still struggling. Companies still failed to pay for water
strategy to conserve water among different socio- services and the same applied for the residents. The
economic groups in Gweru. Failure by residents, forhigh rate of unemployment resulted in the residents'
any reason, to pay-up water bills would lead to incapacitation to pay for water services even when
immediate disconnections that attracted high recon-
they were willing to do so. Nationally, fiscal policy
nection fees (USD 23). The strategy seemingly
review in 2012 saw the revision of the national budget
produced mixed results among different groups.downwards from $4 billion to $3.64 billion. The

Ö Springer

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 240 GeoJournal (2016) 8 1 :23 1-242

review had adverse impacts

considering on
the rate at which demand theduefi
is increasing
of the municipality. The
to economic hardships situation
and general urban expansion in r
failing to pay its Gweru,
suppliers,
the slightest decline in particularl
water levels matters. The
Electricity Supply Authority
available raw water capacity is likely to fail (ZESA
to sustain
challenges in the supply of
the population in the long run. power for
However it was noted that
Significantly, the council
the immediate handicap for had
GCC was not been wo
unavailability
to source of water
funds to at source. Instead financial,
improve the infrastructural
situati and
bore the human resources
partnership with situations were identified
the Australias major
government that injected
drawbacks over
in the water chain supply USD
of Gweru. With the
water services improvement in
increase in the urban population, satisfying 2010
the demand
USD 1, 7 million was
is directed
increasingly toward
becoming unrealistic owing to a crippled
works in Gweru, financial base. Water pumpsets werewater
particularly actually not a
GCC was also involved in a Public-Private Partner- functioning at full capacity due to breakdowns and lack
ship with Unki Mine through the Democratic Councils
of the financial muscle to quickly repair or replace. GCC
Forum. Another notable achievement was that GCC also experienced gaps in knowledge relay causing lack
got a loan in early 2013 from the public sectorof wisdom on the infrastructural condition and layout,
investment programme (PSIP) to the tune of $3 which sometimes lead to an increase in Non Revenue
million for water and sewer rehabilitation. However,
Water. However, even if GCC was to be enhanced in
developments for the betterment of water serviceevery aspect of supply capacity that has been discussed,
provision have been made but there still remained demand
a management continues to be the most appro-
gap between the financial water supply capacity ofpriate and sensible way to handling the water situation in
GCC and the demand. The expansion of residential
order to avoid wastage of the existing water at any given
point. Relying on the traditional supply oriented
areas and population growth posed increased demand
that required an analogous infrastructural expansion.approach
It would mean an investment in more dams to
is in actual fact difficult, if not impossible, to keep cater
up for the growing population, which can be a long
with the pace, but efforts should always be in place term
to and expensive project that can only hit a brick wall
considering the financial situation of the city. It can
improve the water supply situation. Therefore, people
ought to be educated on sparing water use and be therefore recommended that GCC focuses to manage
encouraged to pay for water use as this makes sense
demand for efficient use of water, sparingly for the
future. Although dams are the major surface water
from a Dublin principle point of view, where water is,
and should be, treated as an 'economic good'. supply source, investment cannot continue solely on that
Consequences of the June 2013 water bills cancel-
aspect mainly because further investment in more dams
is likely to take time to materialise to the level of
lation are still to be evaluated. Nonetheless, the general
sentiment was that the decision to cancel water bills was expectation. Instead, consumer attitude ought to be

changed to ensure both continuous water availability

just a political gimmick to obtain votes (Zimeye 2013).
and socio-economic development. Above all, wastewa-
This decision was likely to further cripple the financial
ter use could be another avenue worth exploring so as to
base of city councils considering that water suppliers are
largely sustained by payments and proceeds from cut on water treatment costs whilst at the same time
consumers. The money was supposed to develop andattaining supply for all needs in the city. Concurrently,
reticulation system should be maintained in order to
sustain water reticulation system and meet other critical
avoid unnecessary expensive water losses.
needs. It is therefore projected that if coffers are not
immediately enhanced, service provision and financial
capacity will be seriously compromised.
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