HARARE: Zimbabwe’s capital may introduce a prepaid smart-water system for some of its 3 million inhabitants to help assist in water conservation efforts.By implementing a prepaid watering system, costs can be cut by 30 percent, Harare Mayor Bernard Manyenyeni and Town Clerk Tendai Mahachi said Monday.
“It also enables the city to manage water consumption and corresponding revenue,” the Harare City Council said. Reducing leak losses or “non-revenue water” and installing prepaid smart-water meters are “a powerful water management tool that we need to pilot immediately.”
Funding to improve Harare’s water and sanitation includes a China Exim Bank loan of $144 million, a Zimbabwe grant of $9.5 million from the government that gained independence from the U.K. in 1980, and the capital’s own resources. Zimbabwe has the biggest platinum and chrome deposits after South Africa.
Harare and its surrounding towns require at least 800 million liters (211 million gallons) of water a day. Harare City Council also distributes water to the bedroom cities of Chitungwiza, with a population of about 1 million, and Norton.The pilot project will be introduced in the central business district and Avenues and Northern suburbs. No dates were provided for when the system will begin.
