Press Statement from Chitungwiza Municipality
Chitungwiza Municipality is advising its residents that it is going to start sewerage rehabilitation in the town. The local authority is going to start first phase of the exercise by rehabilitating a collapsed sewer trunk line neat Limbani Shopping Centre on 6th March 2018 in Zengeza.
The project, with an estimated value of $199 974 is expected to last six weeks, and will include extracting and replacing of the damaged pipes measuring approximately 471 metres. The line is 4 000 metres long.
We would like to inform Chitungwiza residents that we are well aware of the sewer problem within the town and Council is undertaking a phased approach because of financial problems.
Everything is well placed and we expect the contractor, R. DAVIES and Company (Pvt) Limited to be on site tomorrow (7th March 2018) to start preparatory works, machinery will be on the site on 8th March 2018. Excavation of the collapsed line is scheduled to begin on Thursday, 9th March 2018.
We are encouraging residents to cooperate with the contractor during the course of the work by exercising extreme caution, and taking note of the trenches as well as rock dust from the excavation.
The rehabilitation comes at a time when sewerage blockages were being raised by residents. However, we have since identified the cause of many blockages in the town being attributed to siltation.
Siltation is caused by collapsed sewer lines due to internal corrosion and vandalism or theft of cast iron manhole covers, illegal connections and intentional dumping of objects in manholes.
The old sections are corroding and collapsing causing blockages in the lines, while the existence of squat pan toilets has become a major problem contributing to the blockages.
In most areas where squat pan toilets are in use, they allow ingress of a lot of sand which accumulates causing blockages.
The areas most affected by this phenomenon are St Mary’s; Zengeza 1, 2 and 3, Seke units A, D, E, H, old G; L, M, N. O , P where squat pan toilets were installed. It is in these areas where the lines get silted up.
The lines, which are also affected by siltation are Seke trunk sewer, rehabilitated in 1998, as well as those in the areas mentioned above.
The Zengeza trunk sewer is also affected by siltation since it also carries effluent from the said areas being St Mary’s and the mentioned Zengezas.
However, Chitungwiza Municipality is mooting coming up with a revolving fund to replace the squat pan toilets with convectional ones, and the exercise will be done in phases. So far 120 toilets have been identified along Dumukwa Road in Zengeza and each will cost $100.
