Harare, September 12: Bulawayo, the second-largest city of Zimbabwe, will recycle sewage water for consumption purpose. The decision was taken by the municipality as the city is nearing Day Zero - the point at which no potable water from fresh resources would be available. With pipes already running dry in most localities, it was decided to treat waste water and re-supply for drinking, cooking and other purposes. Alarming! Earth Lost ‘Staggering’ 28 Trillion Tonnes of Ice in Last 23 Years Due to Global Warming, Says UK Scientists.

The crisis in Bulawayo has been triggered by the ongoing drought, considered as the most fierce in the past several decades. Environmental activists, however, have raised concern over global warming claiming that the changing weather pattern and unequal distribution of rainfall has mitigated the disaster.

With nearly 650,000 residents Bulawayo faces an uphill task of providing tapped potable water in all households. Over the past month, the supply of running water had already been restricted to once in a week owing to the shortage in reservoirs.

Out of the six main water water reservoirs in the city, three are almost depleted, whereas, others are filled to only 25 percent of their total capacity.

Initial assessments show the water is safe to use and it will be purified to get rid of bacteria and pollutants, the city’s public relations department said in a response to questions.

The municipal office of Bulawayo, in a statement issued earlier this week, said the sewage collected in Khami Dam is of acceptable standards and could be treated for consumption purpose.

The initial assessments showed that the sewage could be ridden of bacteria and other pollutants, the public relations department said in response to queries raised by journalists and citizen groups. However, members of residents' associations expressed doubts, claiming that even the piped waters in the city are not adequately purified.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 12, 2020 06:49 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).