New water purification plant for Harare

Suburban Reporter

Harare City Council has reached an agreement with Acumen to establish a new purification plant at the major Morton Jaffray Treatment Plant, potentially resolving a four-year dispute over the supply chain of the city’s water chemicals.

If approved by the Procurement Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (PRAZ), the city could save approximately US$500,000 from its current monthly expenditure of US$2,3 million on water treatment chemicals.

A plant that was installed plant by another company Nanotech has remained idle due to disagreements among council members regarding funding and the direction of the water treatment strategy.

During Wednesday council meeting, Mayor Jacob Mafume announced that the deal with Acumen has finally been finalised.

“We are going to see that we change the chemical regime. We have entered into a memorandum of understanding with Acumen which has been sent to PRAZ. The introduction of chlorine dioxide we hope, will bring clean water to the residents on a more regular basis,” he said.

In 2018, the Harare City Council decided to explore alternative water treatment methods, resulting in a tender process where Nanotech emerged as the winner.

A contract was signed, but subsequent funding issues led to delays in executing the project. Despite a US$1,1 million initial payment for setting up a chlorine dioxide plant, further payments were stalled due to cash constraints and disagreements over project acquittals.