Harare — Harare City Council's refurbishment of Morton Jaffray Water Works, the largest treatment plant for the capital is almost complete with normal delivery of water expected to improve next year, town clerk Dr Tendai Mahachi said on Tuesday.

He was giving oral evidence to the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Local Government, Rural and Urban Development.

"What is left at Morton Jaffray is to replace the filters and get the capacity to 614 mega litres and we will get there before January.

"Twenty-eight kilometres of pipe work have been done and this will add another 40 mega litres to the system.

"Before the end of January, people should be able to get reliable water supply," he said.

Dr Mahachi told the committee that an old water reticulation system, massive leaks and the high cost of treatment chemicals had caused the city's water problems and that the US$17,1 million grant received from Government had gone a long way in replacing the old pipes.

"When we took over from Zinwa, Morton Jaffray was operating at less than 50 percent capacity and was treating up to 300 megalitres a day.

"Most of that (40 percent) was also going down the drain due to old pipes," he said.

Zinwa was relieved of the responsibility to supply water to Harare and other urban areas after Government noticed that it was incapable of doing so.

Dr Mahachi mourned the state Harare's raw water.

"City of Harare uses nine chemicals (treatment chemicals) because water is so polluted. We need around $2 million for that every month," he said.

He, however, said Unicef was providing aluminium sulphate -- one of the critical chemicals needed in water treatment -- to the capital.

A number of residential areas went for up to three years without water at the height of shortages that affected the capital.

Hardest hit were the high-density suburbs Mabvuku, Tafara and northern suburbs especially Highlands, Chisipite and Greendale among others.