Zimbabwe residents decry supply of dirty water

Residents of Zimbabwe's second city, Bulawayo, have complained about the supply of dirty water after days of having dry taps.

The Bulawayo city council had been repairing water pipes and had shut down supply for several days.

The council after completing repairs resumed supply but the dirty water coming out of the taps is worrying.

A resident shared a photo of the brown water that was coming from her tap and the council through its Twitter handle asked for her location to help resolve the issue.

Another resident Solwayo Ngwenya responded, "Usually it clears after some time. The drought is terrible, and water levels are low. As a city we face years and years of hard life like this year appears to be another drought year."

Bulawayo has been suffering from water shortages according to Zimbabwean media.

Council spokesperson Nesisa Mpofu told Reuters news agency that prolonged drought has dried up some of the dams that supply water to the city.

The drought has also affected power and food production in the southern African country.

The council has in the past explained why water becomes dirty after re connection:

In my hometown of #Bulawayo for a holiday and we are experiencing severe municipal water cuts. Water came on today after a few days and check out the color. I was washing the baby’s bottle initially and then took these pics. Lot of people have gotten sick in the last few weeks. pic.twitter.com/XCeVAgEVlR

— Robyn Lee Kriel (@robynkriel1) January 23, 2020