Staff Reporter
Kwekwe City Council has engaged Helcraw Electrical (Pvt) Limited to upgrade its aging water distribution infrastructure.
In an interview with journalists soon after a full council meeting Kwekwe mayor Cllr Albert Zinhanga said the company has been tasked with rehabilitating and modernising the city’s water distribution network, while council will retain responsibility for water treatment and billing residents.
“They are going to come and do the water distribution network to upgrade it and redo sections which have been badly damaged,” he said.
Zinhanga said the intervention is aimed at addressing water losses currently estimated at between 10 and 15 percent along the main supply line from Dutchman’s Pool.
“We are losing probably 10 to 15 percent of our water in the main line so they are going to upgrade the system,” he said.
He clarified that Helcraw’s role will begin at the distribution stage, with council continuing to treat water. The project will prioritise older suburbs such as Amaveni and Mbizo Sections 1 to 3, where infrastructure has significantly deteriorated.
“Most of those locations had corrugated pipes and most of them are no longer there,” Zinhanga said, adding that the works will involve replacing damaged pipelines.
The mayor also indicated that the project could include a shift from postpaid to prepaid water metering, although the final scope of work is still being determined.
According to Zinhanga, the city currently produces about 70 megalitres of water per day against a capacity of 70 to 80 megalitres, with plans to expand output to around 110 megalitres daily once upgrades are complete.
Details on the cost and timeline of the project are yet to be finalised, pending completion of technical assessments by the company’s engineers.
Zinhanga said Helcraw officials recently conducted site visits with council engineers to assess the extent of the distribution network and determine the scope of works.
The development also has implications for nearby Redcliff Municipality, which receives bulk water from Kwekwe. Zinhanga said government had advised that Redcliff be informed of the arrangement, with discussions underway on potentially introducing prepaid bulk water supply to the town.
“If we introduce prepaid metering, it would be difficult for us to bill residents on prepaid, then give Redcliff on postpaid,” he said.
He added that Redcliff authorities have since engaged their own processes to align with the proposed changes.
The move comes as Kwekwe seeks to address longstanding challenges in water supply, including aging infrastructure and inefficiencies in distribution.
