Provision of reliable water services is crucial for urban livelihood. In Chitungwiza, provision of water services has been deteriorating since the millennium with residents losing hope for better services. The poor supply of municipal water in Chitungwiza has led to a chronic ‘dry taps situation’ where household taps are dry from periods of several consecutive days to months.
This article assesses the water supply challenges in Chitungwiza through performance evaluation of the water supply services.
The study was conducted in 26 suburbs in the four residential zones of Chitungwiza Municipality.
Performance evaluation of water supply services was carried out using seven performance indicators: coverage of water supply connection, extent of metering of water connections, presence of leakages, extent of non-revenue water, continuity of water supply, quality of water supplied and efficiency in redressal of customer complaints. Two hundred and ninety-eight semi-structured questionnaires were administered in four residential zones of Chitungwiza. Water distribution system surveillance and key informant interviews were also conducted.
The results indicate high non-revenue water, poor water infrastructure maintenance, lack of water investment leading to widespread leakages in the distribution system, poor water quality supply and unreliable services provision. A majority, 80.2%, rated the municipal water supply services as poor. To cope with this new reality, households in Chitungwiza implemented a ‘source switch’ to new sources.
Household shallow wells were identified as the main adapting strategy with 51.7% households relying on wells despite concerns about the water quality of the wells. Chitungwiza municipality should implement structural reforms that allow the current water service provision to improve.
Provision of reliable water services is key for sustainable development of cities (Yadav et al.
Chitungwiza is the third largest and the fastest-growing urban centre in Zimbabwe with a population of 386 000 people. The town was established in 1978 as a dormitory suburb of the capital city, Harare. Chitungwiza gained full municipal status in 1981 (Japanese International Cooperation Agency
On an average, cities and towns in Africa are growing at 5% per annum (World Bank
Because of lack of consistency in water supply in Chitungwiza, most customers have lost confidence and trust in the water service provision. This has affected the patterns of paying for water, leading to Chitungwiza municipality failing to mobilise the financial resources needed for meaningful water development projects and upgrade of the system to keep water supply continuous. This is because the municipal water system operations are largely financed bywater bills paid by consumers. Most residents have sunk shallow home wells as an alternative source to unreliable municipal water supply in Chitungwiza. However, there are risks of these wells drying up and of water quality issues, jeopardising human health, hence a consistent potable municipal water supply is indispensable.
For the past decade and half, Chitungwiza has been implementing a strict water rationing programme, where each zone gets water access for at least 24–48 h per week. More than 40% of the residential suburbs in Chitungwiza experience deficiencies in supply that can last from 24 h to several days (Africa Water Facility
What are the water supply service challenges in Chitungwiza?
Do the current water supply services in Chitungwiza meet both local and international benchmark standards of good practice?
What are the residents’ opinions regarding water supply services provision in Chitungwiza and how do these opinions shape household coping mechanisms?
With growing water demand because of competing water users in urban water supply in developing regions under the uncertainties of climate change, reliable water supply services that limit water losses and prioritise good urban water management and governance are fundamental. This underscores the need to have reliable urban water supply services that are sustainably managed and governed. This article is premised on the relevance of reliable urban water supply in the attainment of sustainable cities development agenda. The availability and supply of sufficient drinking water of acceptable quality is becoming a fundamental global challenge (Ahmadi et al.
The recent development of urban water supply shortages and interrupted services across the globe has led to the discoveries of new terms such as ‘day zero’ (Bischoff-Mattson et al.
Addressing water supply governance challenges in Chitungwiza resonates with the global agenda of improving access to safely managed water systems that promotes sustainable development. Current water supply and management in Chitungwiza is not aligning with the future sustainable cities’ development. This article, therefore, focuses on assessing the key water supply indicators that are vital for Chitungwiza to meet reliable water supply services in attaining the sustainable cities development goals.
Water in Chitungwiza is public and solely supplied by Chitungwiza municipality through two sources: potable water distribution system and municipal boreholes. The potable water is supported by 79 municipal boreholes. Chitungwiza municipality does not have its own potable water treatment plant but buys potable water from Harare City. Therefore, for Chitungwiza to sustainably keep its supply, residents should pay for water services so that the municipality is able to buy water from City of Harare. Residential potable water in Chitungwiza is distributed and managed based on the four zones (
Details of water property connections according to four zones of Chitungwiza as of 2016.
Zone | HDC | MDC | LDC | CC | IC | InC | Others | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Seke North | 14 121 | 418 | 384 | 597 | 0 | 52 | 0 | 15 572 |
Seke South | 13 220 | - | - | 346 | 0 | 54 | 0 | 13 620 |
Zengeza | 14 355 | 1042 | - | 348 | 323 | 97 | 0 | 16 165 |
St Mary’s | 9219 | - | 352 | 289 | 0 | 55 | 152 | 10 067 |
CC, commercial connections; HDC, high density connection; IC, industrial connection; InC, institutional connections; MDC, medium density connections; LDC, low density suburbs.
A main water distribution pipeline that supplies water to Chitungwiza comes from the Prince Edward Water Treatment Plant. It leaves the treatment plant at an elevation of 1467 m to Chitungwiza. With this elevation, lower altitude areas of Chitungwiza (
Current water supply distribution system for Chitungwiza.
The current water supply rationing in Chitungwiza applies to the residential connections only (World Bank Report
Performance evaluation of the water supply services in Chitungwiza was carried out using the assessment of compliance with the seven performance indicators: coverage of water supply connection, extent of metering of water connections, presence of leakages, extent of non-revenue water (NRW), continuity of water supply, quality of water supplied and efficiency in redressing customer complaints. To assess the above performance indicators, the study used both qualitative and quantitative research approaches. The reason for mixing qualitative and quantitative research approaches was to allow appropriate assessment of all the seven indicators. This is because indicators such as the perceptions of the quality of water supplied by municipality and efficiency of redressing customer complaints are best assessed using a qualitative research approach. Data collection and field observations involved a three key strategic approach in the systematic order given here:
Surveillance of the water supply system to assess the condition of the infrastructure.
Conduct key informant interviews with the Chitungwiza municipality water department.
Household data collection across the four residential zones of Chitungwiza.
The main aim of surveilling the water supply and distribution system and the related infrastructure was to determine the exact areas in the system that need immediate attention because an unmaintained system produces leaks and bursts, increasing NRW. This poses management challenges that lead to interruption of water supply services. Non-revenue water for Chitungwiza was calculated using the method proposed by Yadav et al. (
Data on water sold to consumers for the year under study was obtained from Chitungwiza municipality finance department. Data on water purchased from Harare water and put into the residential transmission and distribution system were obtained from Chitungwiza municipality water department through district bulk water meter readings located in the four residential zones.
Key informant interviews were conducted in May 2017. The main reason for conducting key informant interviews was to understand the technical challenges that are facing Chitungwiza water department in terms of budgets, procurement, finance and engineering capacities. Three key interviews were held with the Director of Water Department, the Chief Technician of the faults section and the Director of Revenue Collection and Finance.
Household semi-structured questionnaire surveys were conducted to solicit information on the following six performance indicators: coverage of water supply connection, water supply system maintenance and service, presence of leakages, continuity of water supply, quality of water supplied, efficiency in redressal of customer complaints. The questions sought to understand the extent of the problems and to gain the deeper thoughts and perspectives of the households towards the municipal water services provision. A purposive sampling technique was used to administer a total of 298 semi-structured questionnaires between May and July 2017 (see
Sample size and distribution across the study area.
Zone | Questionnaires | Water connections | Sample size (%) |
---|---|---|---|
Seke North | 77 | 14 539 | 0.5 |
Seke South | 49 | 13 220 | 0.4 |
Zengeza | 103 | 15 397 | 0.7 |
St Mary’s | 69 | 9213 | 0.7 |
, Average sample.
The questionnaire had three main sections: the first part focused on the major problems with the current water supply services in Chitungwiza based on the performance indicators that were measured. The aim was to unpack all the water supply challenges faced by households. The second section focused on whether households were satisfied with the water services they are receiving and their perception towards the services. The last section focused on the measures or coping strategies implemented by households to address dry taps situation in Chitungwiza and the other problems in the service provision.
Description of performance indicators used to assess Chitungwiza Municipality water supply services.
Ethical clearance was not required for the study. CUREC Reference Number: SSD/CUREC1A/BSG_C1A-17-02.
Descriptive socio-economic data and summary results of key water supply issues.
Characteristics of household head | Number | Proportion (%) |
---|---|---|
Female | 58 | 55 |
Male | 134 | 45 |
21–54 | 224 | 75.2 |
> 55 | 60 | 20.1 |
Ordinary level | 189 | 63.4 |
Advance level | 26 | 8.7 |
Degree/tertiary | 67 | 22.5 |
Good | 28 | 9.4 |
Poor | 269 | 90.3 |
Experience leakages between 2016 and 2017 | 122 | 40.9 |
Stolen meter | 19 | 3.4 |
Malfunctioning meter | 32 | 10.9 |
Well | 154 | 51.7 |
Private boreholes with bulk tanks | 39 | 13.1 |
Very low-pressure cases | 16 | 5.4 |
Suburbs with water connections | 26 | 89.7 |
Suburbs without connections | 3 | 10.3 |
Chitungwiza municipality is failing to meet the benchmark of the six indicators (
Performance indicators measured in Chitungwiza in 2017.
Indicator | Benchmark | Conditions in Chitungwiza |
---|---|---|
Coverage of water supply connection | 100% | 89.7% |
Extent of metering of water connections | 100% | 80.2% |
Extent of non-revenue water | 25% | 55% |
Continuity of water supply | 24/7 | 20 min – 3 days/week |
Quality of water supplied | High | Poor |
Efficiency in redressal of customer complaints | 24 h | At earliest 48 h |
The water supply in Chitungwiza was observed to be highly variable across the 26 major suburbs, ranging from 20 min to 3 days in a week. A full-scale survey was conducted on the municipal water distribution system to identify possible sources of NRW through system leakages, illegal connections and issues of water theft. The condition of the municipal boreholes and other water-related infrastructure were also assessed.
The calculated NRW was 55%, which is much higher than expected for urban water utilities. However, the calculations were not as accurate as they should be because amongst the four zones in Chitungwiza, Seke north zone had other suburbs without district bulk water meters. Eleven district meters have been purchased ready for installation (from the interview with Water Director). This will facilitate the measurement of real losses. Most NRW water in Chitungwiza was from real and physical losses. These losses were through illegal and unmetered connections, inaccurate meter reading and distribution system leakages.
Leakage statistics from surveyed households.
Zone | Leakages recorded | No leakages | No information provided | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|
Seke South | 22 | 50 | 5 | 77 |
Seke North | 21 | 24 | 4 | 49 |
Zengeza | 56 | 42 | 5 | 103 |
St Mary’s | 23 | 46 | 0 | 69 |
Late and slow leakage response by the municipality reflects a poorly maintained water system that mirrors poor service provision. Water infrastructure in Chitungwiza was installed five decades ago. As a result of economic meltdown in Zimbabwe, the Chitungwiza system was severely affected. Renovation and expansion of new water infrastructure has been suspended. This has put pressure on the existing ageing infrastructure as the population and town activities are expanding rapidly.
Evidence of illegal connection and meter by-passing in Chitungwiza.
The study assessed the coverage of water supply in the four zones of the residential suburbs during survey and system surveillance. Municipal water coverage in Chitungwiza residential suburbs was not 100%. Unserved suburbs with no municipal water supply system were identified. Three extension suburbs had no municipal connections: Unit A, L and P. One extreme case was of a suburb in Seke south zone without municipal water supply or boreholes. They completely rely on household wells and some use installed submersible pumps in the wells, feeding into bulk tanks that are connected to the houses. Across the four zones in Chitungwiza, supply of municipal water with low pressure was consistent.
Municipal boreholes are a very important water source in Chitungwiza. The total number of municipal boreholes, their condition and distribution were observed because recently the population relying on boreholes has been increasing. Non-governmental organisations have been playing an important role in the drilling of municipal boreholes in Chitungwiza to improve access to water and security.
Reliance on borehole water has increased because of the chronic intermittent and unreliable municipal water supply and the quality issues associated with the current water supplied. Sixty-five boreholes were working whilst 14 were non-functional. Non-functional boreholes had worn out rods and some had dried out because of poor siting. In some cases, households were making contributions to repair malfunctioning municipal boreholes. Challenges facing Chitungwiza municipality to repair boreholes are related to lack of spares to replace worn out parts and inadequate funds to procure the parts.
Non-governmental organisation donated boreholes in suburbs of Chitungwiza.
Organisation/NGO | Number of boreholes donated |
---|---|
UNICEF | 18 |
ADRA | 12 |
German AGRO Action (GAA) | 5 |
Healthcare centre | 3 |
Mescops | 1 |
Municipality (AfDB fund) | 10 |
ADRA, Adventist Development and Relief Agency; AfDB, African Development Bank; GAA, German AGRO Action; NGO, Non-Governmental Organisations; UNICEF, United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund.
During the household survey, several important water supply and management challenges that indicate water system performance were mentioned. Most of the respondents (80%) expressed dissatisfaction with the current water supply system and the water-related services. Households unveiled several problems and the most recurring problems. The order of ranked problems is listed in
Order of ranked Chitungwiza water supply and management problems.
Order of ranking | Challenges/problems |
---|---|
Highly unreliable and sporadic municipal water supply Poor water quality delivery Health problems, that is, cholera and typhoid cases Dirty and odorous water because of rust accumulation in the distribution systems owing to intermittent water supply Poor communication by the municipality Corruption of the municipality Lack of transparency and unjustified water bills Delays on sending the water bills, in some cases protracted to 3 months Mismanagement of funds by the municipality |
Note: The width of the arrow represents the most ranked problem and tip of the arrow represents the least ranked problem.
Household perception on municipal water quality and level of water supply service satisfaction.
Since majority of the households widely perceived the quality of municipal water as very poor, households have embarked on various coping strategies. These include boiling of municipal water before drinking, pretreatment using water guard on both municipal and well water before drinking, use of borehole water and purchasing drinking water from supermarkets. Gambe (
Common coping strategies amongst households in Chitungwiza.
The choice of coping strategy was influenced by the distribution of municipal boreholes, income level and education. The use of well water was common in newly developed areas not yet serviced.
Chitungwiza residents are facing unreliable and poor water supply services, with the majority of households perceiving the municipal water to be of poor quality. Although this study did not conduct the lab tests on the municipal water to assess its quality, measurements related to water quality were based on the responses provided by households. Water was observed to be available 1–2 days per week in most suburbs. The water supply distribution system is poorly maintained, the municipality is not replacing either broken and stolen meters as they are mandated to do so, leakages were prevalent and not attended on time. These results were consistent with previous research (Drangert & Sharatchandra
Most of the NRW in Chitungwiza is from real losses. Non-revenue water can be reduced through appropriate technical and managerial actions and monitoring NRW can trigger such corrective measures (Yadav et al.
Improve bursts and leakage reporting (early reporting).
Timely attendance to leakages, pipe bursts.
Replace old pipes on time.
Tough regulations on illegal connections, with high fines or jail sentence.
Accurate meter reading and investment in the modern meters and metering.
Some cities in developing countries such as India have benefited from effective leakage reporting system through social media (Gupta et al.
In extensive discussions with households throughout the data collection, several water challenges that households are facing with the municipal water supply services were expanded.
Households believe their new sources to be more reliable than municipal water. Another proportion of the interviewees purchased bottled water from supermarkets for drinking and felt safe with this source, but this is not sustainable in the long run. About 13.1% had submersible pumps in their households that were connected to bulk tanks of 5000 L – 1000 L. The private systems were connected to the municipal system supplying the whole house through meter by-passing.
Adopted household water source alternatives to poor municipal water supply in Chitungwiza.
In totality, 51.7% of the 298 surveyed households in the four zones of Chitungwiza rely on homestead wells. However, water quality for these wells remains unknown. To address the challenge, some households have been practicing point of use treatment methods of the water with water guarding, others boil the water whilst some do nothing (
Water meter conditions in Chitungwiza.
Chitungwiza municipality water supply services are failing to meet the benchmark of all the performance indicators investigated that are key for water services delivery. Chitungwiza does not have its own water treatment plant, which means the burden of managing a water treatment is transferred to Harare water but despite this, they are failing to maximise on this to realise continuous water supply by increasing their purchasing power of water from Harare Water. The study established the following as major issues in the current water system: unreliable municipal water supply leading to the lack of residents’ trust in the whole system, supply of poor water quality, poor maintenance, slow attendance to leakages that are leading to high NRW, lack of transparency and accountability by the municipality. Other factors are mismanagement of the water supply and corruption by the municipality. Majority of the households, 80.2%, rated the municipal water supply services provision as poor. This reflects a serious problem between residents and the municipality that need urgent solutions through structural and institutional reforming of the municipality. The study recommends the following:
Chitungwiza municipality should consider implementing structural reforms that would allow the current situation to be improved.
The municipality should improve on transparency, accountability and management and end corruption.
Improvement in the quality of municipal water supply is vital. Further studies are required to assess water quality of boreholes and wells that are used by households.
The author acknowledges the willingness of the participants of all the households interviewed. The author is also grateful of the full support received from the Chitungwiza municipality.
The author declares no known competing financial interests or personal relationship that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this article.
All work associated with the writing of this article was done by the author L.Z.
This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.
Data sharing is not applicable to this article as no new data were created or analysed in this study.
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any affiliated agency of the author.