daniel chigunwe
Talent Gore
THE pollution at Lake Chivero has reached alarming levels, an issue that needs to be dealt with urgently as the lake is Harare’s main water source.
A recent study by ecologist, Professor Christopher Magadza, indicated a dire situation at Lake Chivero.
He warned of the lake’s warming and a potential ecological shift towards a permanent cyanobacteria-dominated ecosystem, particularly under conditions of elevated temperatures and nutrient overload.
Addressing journalists yesterday, Harare Mayor Jacob Mafume acknowledged the algae issue at Lake Chivero but reassured that the water is treated in accordance with World Health Organisation standards.
“Every body of water that is untreated is unsafe so we always treat our water in line with World Health Organisation standards.
“We treat the water thoroughly to make sure that we give residents safe and clean water and it is tested by our chemist on a daily basis
“However, what happened with the animals needs to be further investigated for us to understand what is happening because we are committed to give the animals that depend on the lake a safe environment for them.
“We are getting all the assistance we require to investigate our water body and we will be discussing with the Government to get the assistance we might need to work together in order to make sure that Lake Chivero is safe.”
Mafume said the long-term solution was expanding the sewer treatment plants to ensure that the sewer is treated before it reaches the lake.
Harare Residents Trust director, Precious Shumba, said the council’s Environment Management Committee should be more proactive in the face of this huge pollution crisis at Lake Chivero, where fish are dying.
“That Committee should be inviting experts to complement the engineers in the Harare Water Department,” he said.
“The best way forward is for inclusive responses and interventions where technologies can be roped in to clean the mess.
“We understand that there is a company that got a contract to clean up Council waste in July but up to now, nothing much has happened to get the work done.”
Another source, who preferred anonymity, said the pollution problem for Lake Chivero has been a decades-long crisis.
“Eutrophication started a long time ago and it is primarily because of the dysfunctional waste water treatment (sewage treatment) infrastructure and systems in our city,” he said.
“Inflows into our sewage treatment systems are way beyond design capacities and add to that sewage leakages.
“Since Greater Harare is sitting on its own catchment and Lake Chivero is the first receiving water body for a mixture of our poorly treated and raw sewage, serious pollution is unavoidable.”
He said when there is a drought, the pollution concentration increases.
