CONTENTS 1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0 5.0 6.

0 Introduction Background Sewer Reticulation Maintenance Handover of Water and Sewer section to ZINWA Council takeover from ZINWA Conclusion

1.0

INTROUCTION

During the period from 2007 to 2009 the City of Kwekwe was now under serious health and environmental threats due to excess sewer blockages. The situation was now dire and becoming uncontrollable. Humans were now interacting with their waste water, ablutions were no longer usable for many residence as there was no flow in the sewer lines and most were now resorting to the primitive bush system. Children were at risk the most as they were fascinated by the flow of these waters not knowing how lethal they were. Roads were being damaged, the smell in residential areas was now distinct yet intolerable and the standards of civilization were fast being eroded. With no doubt something had to be done as a pandemic was now looming. 2.0 BACKGROUND

Position of Kwekwe Heart of Zimbabwe Equidistant from the cities of Bulawayo and Harare Population 110 000 (2009 estimate) Kwekwe is the fifth largest city of Zimbabwe. It is well endowed with rich gold and iron mineral deposits and is situated in the center of Zimbabwe between the countrys major metropolitan cities of Harare and Bulawayo. Kwekwe s strategic geographical position contributes to it s being a potential industrial nerve centre of Zimbabwe .It is situated on Zimbabwe s Great Dyke renowned for it s mineral deposited which have led to it s fast development and growth. It is linked to other major cities by highways, air and railway networks

Utilities Water Kwekwe s water supply is currently sourced from the 227million m capacity Sebakwe Dam via 5 million cubic meter Dutchman s pool Dam. The supply is reliable and more than adequate for future developments. Water is treated at a treatment plant with a capacity of 90mega liters per day Sewer Wastewater form Kwekwe is from industrial and residential areas, it excludes storm waters which are conveyed via streams to rivers. For wastewater it moves through a sewer reticulation system to Pumpstations then finally to northern sewerage treatment plant which has a capacity of 14 mega liters per day water that are used are septic tanks. Kwekwe City Council Kwekwe City Council is in charge for all service provision for the residence of the City. It has departments for different duties viz Department of Finance, Department of Housing, Department of Health, Department of Central Administration and Department of Works. The Department of Works is split into the following sections Mechanical, Electrical, Transport, Water and sewer, Roads and Planning. 3.0 SEWER RETICULATION MAINTENANCE . Other means of treating waste

Kwekwes sewer reticulation services industrial areas, low density residential areas ( Masasa, Newtown, Fitchlea, Westend), high density residential areas(Mbizo, Amaveni) and central business district. In order to keep it intact and functional a joint effort is required between residence and council. Where by residence being the eyes give reports to council on blockages and council act swiftly in attending. The council workers i.e choke crews under Water and Sewer section in the Department Of Works attend to the

blockages manually. Using chocking rods, scrapers, tins shovels and excavators the choke crews unblock the blockages and spread chloride of lime on the areas to kill germs.

4.0

HANDOVER OF WATER AND SEWER SECTION TO ZINWA

In November 2007 the Water and Sewer section was handed over to Zimbabwe National Water Authority (ZINWA) from Council after a directive from the Government. Works programme employed During that period the maintenance programme that was being employed for sewer reticulation was that of shift work among the choke crews. The city was divided into three sections i.e. Amaveni (Amaveni high density suburb), Town (CBD, Low density suburbs, industrial areas) and Mbizo (Mbizo high density suburb). Each section had two crews one on duty for seven days and the other on off duty. After seven days they would change over. For example in Amaveni Week1 Crew A Crew B Off Working Week2 Working Off Week3 Off Working

In effect the whole city had three crews attending to all the blockages. Each crew had 4 to 5 members. Problems encountered Due to increase of sewer blockages the three crews where overwhelmed and many were going for days to months unattended. Mostly Mbizo and Amaveni were highly affected as they have the lager chunk of the population and having two crews attending them.

If Crew A did not attend to a blockage during their seven days of work Crew B would not attend to the work that was supposed to be done by Crew A in protest to their laziness.

This resulted in increase of waste water flowing on surface. Damages to roads due to sewers flowing across them Pungent smells in residential areas Outbreaks of diseases such as cholera Growth of reeds in stormwater drains Human behavior was also to blame in sewer blockages as some would intentionally block lines so as to irrigate their fields.

5.0

COUNCIL TAKE OVER FROM ZINWA

ZINWA reigned in Kwekwe from November 2007 until February 2009 when all the sections it had possessed were handed back to City council after government had reversed its decision. Council continued to employ the same programme of works for sewer reticulation. It was until it was realized that a health pandemic was being brewed that brains had to kick in to eradicate excess pollution that was being caused by sewers. New works programme employed In August 2009 a new programme of works was devised and it was structured as.

CREW LEADER 1 2 3 4 5 O.GAVA F.TICHARWA B.MAMVURA J.CHIKWENGWE D.MATSOKOTO

AREA ALLOCATED MOBILE AND TRUNK LINES MBIZO OLD MBIZO,1EXT,2,3 AND TRUNK LINES 5,6,7,8,19 AND TRUNK LINES 12,13,15,17,18 AND TRUNK LINES 4,4 EXT,9,9EXT,10,10EXT,16,16 EXT,17EXT AND TRUNK LINES AMAVENI, WESTEND AMAVENI WEST& R, AND TRUNK LINES FROM CHIKOMO TO CLINIC

I.NCUBE

N.MZILA

WESTEND,AMAVENI EASTAND TRUNK LINES FROM CLINIC TO FLATS

The city was split into various sections and a crew was assigned to be responsible for that section. Any complaints from any area were now put on the shoulders of the crew incharge. Changes noted Marked improvement in the cleanliness of the City Of KweKwe Reduction in cases of cholera and other related diseases Streams that had emerged finally disappeared The distinct smells of high density suburbs became no more Crews that had not been performing were exposed Positive feed back was now coming from the community

Challenges still encountered It would be nave for us to say sewer blockages are now extinct in Kwekwe. They are still present but to a manageable scale. It is now easier to make a diagnosis of the areas which were either poorly designed or constructed and these are the areas which still present a challenge to us in making our cities one hundred percent clean. 6.0 CONCLUSION

It must be said that the positive result that was achieved was due to the diligence and hard work that the stuff of Kwekwe City Council put in conjunction with the positive feedback from the community. Plans are in line to rectify areas that areas that are fast growing beyond capacity and areas that were designed or constructed poorly. All this is in the effort in keeping our sewers underground whilst the surface remains clean for humanity.