Chitungwiza Drought Deepens as Residents Resort to Unsafe Water Sources

Chitungwiza’s deepening drought has left thousands without tap water, forcing residents to rely on unsafe wells and costly private vendors (image source)

Chitungwiza residents face persistent water shortages that have forced many households to abandon taps and turn to shallow wells, boreholes and expensive private vendors, deepening public-health risks and daily hardship in the densely populated town south of Harare. Families in suburbs such as Zengeza and St Mary’s report weeks without municipal supply, with women and children spending hours queuing for buckets and some children reportedly drinking untreated well water when supplies run out.

Community leaders and civil-society groups warn that the crisis is structural: the town lacks its own bulk water source and has long depended on transfers from Harare and ageing treatment plants, a vulnerability made worse by dam depletion, pump failures and unpaid municipal debts that limit bulk purchases. Local advocacy groups have documented overflowing sewers and raw-effluent incidents that accompany intermittent supplies, creating a toxic environment that increases the risk of cholera, diarrhoeal diseases and other waterborne illnesses when residents are driven to unsafe sources.

The human cost is immediate and multi-dimensional. Households spending scarce income on water from private bowser operators report paying the equivalent of multiple US dollars a day for small allocations, eroding budgets for food and medicine and increasing the vulnerability of child-headed and elderly households. Schools and health centres operate under strain: irregular water delivery disrupts sanitation in classrooms and clinics, undermining infection control and maternal-child services in a town of more than half a million residents.

Municipal officials acknowledge the crisis and have proposed short-term measures including a Water Indaba to mobilise stakeholders, emergency tanker schedules and registration of bulk suppliers, while urging residents to use only certified vendors. Technical officials also point to the decommissioning of local dams as a key trigger that will require public-private investments and possible designation as a disaster to unlock funding for infrastructure upgrades.

Analysts say durable solutions require ring-fenced investment in bulk water storage, rehabilitation of pump stations and sewer networks, and negotiated debt-resolution mechanisms with Harare and national agencies to secure consistent supplies. In the interim, community organisations urge immediate distribution of treated emergency water to vulnerable zones, rapid repairs to burst mains and transparent communication from the council to restore public trust and reduce the health toll of the ongoing shortage.