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City Council to vaccinate  contaminated borehole water users

by Bustop TV News

By Takudzwa Changadeya 

HARARE City Council will vaccinate residents of the areas with the decommissioned 15 boreholes contaminated with faecal matter and believed to be the source of typhoid cases in Glen Norah, Mbare and Budiriro. 

This follows after the city’s health authorities tested water samples taken from 127 boreholes and found significant traces of Escherichia coli (E. coli) bacteria, indicating the presence of human waste.

City health authorities are monitoring suspected typhoid cases, with about more than 20 others having already been confirmed. 

“We are planning to vaccinate people who were using those boreholes against all waterborne diseases such as cholera, dysentery, and typhoid.

“After finding out that those 15 boreholes were contaminated, we installed in-line chlorine devices to kill bacteria, viruses and other microbes.

“So, since then we have been sending water bowsers to the affected areas whilst we are waiting for the water to be safe for use”, City of Harare Health Service Director Prosper Chonzi said.

Chonzi also said they are planning to engage Harare City Council on the issue of providing tap water to those areas.  

Speaking to Bus Stop TV, a resident from Budiriro who spoke on condition of anonymity laid the blame on the City of Harare over its failure to attend to bursting underground sewer pipes.

“This is a clear indication of our city council’s negligence to repair sewer pipes that are bursting underground time and again and now our boreholes are contaminated with human waste. We put the blame on them,” he said.

This comes at a time when Harare is already grappling with a lot of cases of diarrhoea that have been reported since last year, with the caseload surging since the onset of the rains.

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