Harare — A DAY hardly passes by without reports of water supplies being cut off in Harare's residential areas and the Central Business District. The most frequently cited reasons are burst old pipes or an electrical fault at Morton Jaffray Waterworks.

Residents have been looking forward to the day when this mess would end, but it is becoming worse with each passing day.

As a result, the city has been reportedly losing 40 percent of treated water through leakages and the vandalism of water pipes.

However, it is heartening to learn that the City of Harare has embarked on a massive pipe replacement programme in a bid to cut leakages which account for the huge loss of treated water.

This follows a grant of US$17 million given to the municipality by the Government for that purpose.

Water has been gushing out of burst pipes, flooding parts of the city at a time many people are going for weeks, and sometimes months, without water.

Distribution and customer services manager for Harare Engineer Hosiah Chisango has said these "will be problems of the past once we finish our programme".

He said council would, apart from replacing old steel pipes with plastic ones, focus on improving water and sewer services in residential areas.

We would like to believe him. But given similar assurances by other service providers that did not hold, we would rather doubt the sincerity of his statement.

Harare is a growing city and in the absence of any expansion or overhaul programmes of the city's waterworks, sewerage and other services, we can expect more problems.

Harare's water and sewer problems need a complete overhaul, not piecemeal projects.

It is imperative that Harare's water and sewer infrastructure should not be allowed to collapse or decline during this time of economic difficulties because it will be crucial to any recovery programme that is put in place in future.

In the past residents would have their water supplies disconnected for not paying their water bills to the municipality on time.

Now water is being wasted due to pipe bursts which cannot be repaired or replaced on time due to the inefficiency of council staff.

When water taps run dry residents are unable to use toilets, cook or wash. They also end up using the bush -- a potential health hazard.

Council authorities should revamp the public relations department and ensure it explains promptly to ratepayers whenever there are problem affecting them.

It is true that some residents, in desperation, are illegally tapping into the main water pipes, causing problems with water supplies, hence the need to sensitise the public on the proper use of water and sewer infrastructure.

Efficient water supply can help boost revenue for council. Water charges are supposed to cover the cost of the extra infrastructure required to cope with expanding demand.

We need not emphasise that the primary functions of a municipal administration are surely to supply safe water to all residents, collect and process sewage, collect rubbish, run a decent health service and maintain an adequate city road system.

Residents await the proper use of the US$17 million. When the fund is exhausted there should be an increase in water production and a reduction of sewer blockages, as most of the old pipes would have been replaced.

Burst water pipes and sewerage problems are timely reminders that we should always keep an eye on our infrastructure.