Zimbabwe to construct US $237m water treatment plants

Zimbabwe is set to construct four water treatment plants and rehabilitate existing ones at a cost of US $273m. Chinese company Sinohydro has been chosen by the municipality of Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe for the development.

Construction works of the hydraulic infrastructures will be carried out in three phases. Phase one includes expanding the Crowborough wastewater treatment plant, with a capacity of 54,000 m3 per day. This will involve installing new pipelines to reinforce the station’s new production capacity.

A waster water treatment plant in Lydnhurst, north of the Zimbabwean capital will also be built in this phase together with rehabilitating a sewer system onsite. Second phase of the project entails upgrading upgrading of the Firle wastewater treatment plant, one of the city’s main facilities.

The plant treats a capacity of 44,000 m3 of water per day and upon the upgrade, production will increase to additional 60,000 m3 of water to be treated per day. Phase three of the project will involve construction of two new wastewater treatment plants in Budiriro (15,000 m3) southwest of Harare and Gwebi (30,000 m3) per day near the capital.

Zimbabwe has been in the past heavily affected by water-related diseases. In 2008, the Budiriro suburb was the site of 50% of cholera cases in Zimbabwe. Typhoid has become common in this area as well. To make matters worse, this area is very often affected by floods, as was the case in 2016 with flash floods that caused considerable damage.

According to the municipality, construction works is set to start as soon as feasibility studies are completed. The infrastructure upon completion will reduce wastewater discharge into the rivers that flow through the city, polluting the environment and spreading disease outbreaks.

27 March 2019