The capital of Zimbabwe, Harare has developed a huge appetite for bottled water. At least 300,000 litres of water is consumed in a day by the city’s 1.6 million inhabitants.
Zimbabwe’s Finance Minister, Patrick Chimamasa, is quoted by the Reuters saying that water imports have reached “crazy” proportions. The demand comes from both poor and rich families in the drought hit city.
However, the reason for the high demand for bottled water is due to the fact that the tap water in many homes and businesses is increasingly undrinkable.
“Municipal water is smelly. Often we see visible dirty particles floating,” Precious Shumba, chair of the Harare Residents’ Trust, the biggest civic pressure group in the city, said in an interview with the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
Harare has had problems providing clean water for almost a decade. Challenges of drought, power cuts, lack of adequate finances, reckless issuing of building permits has destroyed natural wetlands and exodus of qualified water engineers lead the city to produce only 40 percent of the water needed.
Some of the families that have used the tap water to bathe or drink have reported health problems such as typhoid, rashes among other water-borne diseases.
With the high demand some of the city dwellers are not only selling imported water but have learned to make recycled bottled water. Dezha Epworth is one such trader, selling her home bottled water at a steep price of 1.50 dollars.
“On a good day I can sell 100 bottles of water…. On weekends I go around the community teaching women how to clean dirty bottles and sell fresh water.” Said Dezha
But not all of the water for sale on Harare’s streets is safe. Arnold Gokwe, a director for Still Waters Packaging, one of the water bottling companies in the capital, said touts refilling bottles with unclean water is hurting the image of companies like his.
Jimmy Sabelo, an infectious disease doctor who runs the private Everjoy Medical Centre, said the city has seen an upswing in health problems as a result of dirty water from taps and refilled bottles.
“Often I am treating over 10 patients with vomiting, abdominal pains and dysentery. Some of it is related to water issues, especially patients from the poorest suburbs like Mbare, east of the city,” Said Dr. Sabelo
To be safe, some have turned to drinking water by popular Pentecostal Christian spiritual leaders.
“The prophet’s drinking water is safe by faith. We don’t need stupid tests to prove it!” one devout shop owner said in an interview.
