The ManicaPost
Tendai Gukutikwa
Post Reporter
THE water samples collected from Murare River after 30 000 litres of creosote termite poison spilled into the water body are still undergoing final laboratory analysis, The Civil Protection Unit (CPU) has said.
This comes after a truck that was travelling from South Africa overturned and spilled the poison into Murare River which feeds into Save River.
In an interview, Acting Manicaland Provincial Director (Local Government Services and Administration), Mr John Misi said the CPU is monitoring the situation closely and will provide an update as soon as the results are available.
He said as the CPU, they are being cautious and have advised community members to avoid drinking water from the river and nearby boreholes until the final lab results are out.
“We have advised community members to avoid drinking water until we receive the final lab results, which are expected by the end of this week. According to preliminary results, the water appears clear and free of contamination, but we want to be extra careful and confirm the quality before proceeding.
“The tests are being conducted at the Environmental Management Agency (EMA), the Ministry of Health and Child Care and the Zimbabwe National Water Authority (ZINWA) laboratories.
“We will follow the ministry’s guidance on whether the water is safe to drink or not after the final results are released. We will inform the communities as soon as we have the confirmation to drink it,” said Mr Misi.
He said they were working with the Chimanimani Rural District Council to provide water trucks to the community every day.
“We plan to drill two additional boreholes for the community in the future because we have noticed that the area had water problems even before the accident,” he said.
EMA Manicaland provincial manager, Dr Kingstone Chitotombe said the disaster has raised concerns about the potential environmental and health impacts of the toxic substance on the river ecosystem and the nearby communities.
Speaking to The Manica Post a few days after the accident, Mr Chitotombe said EMA pumped out the contaminated water from the river basin into lined ponds.
“After pumping out the contaminated water, we scooped the contaminated soil into lined ponds and treated the soil. After treatment, we diverted the river flow so that it takes a different route from the contaminated area.
“We by-passed the former river flow so that we minimise further contamination, and so far the water is flowing well and we are almost complete with the clean-up.
“We are currently monitoring the river channel as well as the water quality. We are also monitoring the area that we disposed the contaminated water to see whether it will be affected or not,” said Mr Chitotombe.
According to Chimanimani District Head of the Department of Veterinary Services, Mr Dennis Mtetwa, the incident which happened a month ago had by Tuesday resulted in the death of more than 150 livestock in the vicinity of the river.
In an interview on the sidelines of an evaluation tour of the scene which was organised by EMA on Tuesday, Mr Mtetwa said a total of 148 goats, six calves, 10 dogs and two turkeys died after consuming the poisoned water.
“We have taken some of the carcases to our central laboratory in Harare where post mortems are being done. We are still waiting for the results to ascertain whether these animals were killed by the dangerous substance or something else.
“We are also monitoring five sick goats since they are under our jurisdiction as the department of veterinary services,” he said.
The disaster had a severe impact on the environment, but some signs of recovery are emerging.
Aquatic life is gradually returning to normal and the water quality is improving.
According to experts, this can be measured by the reduction of Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) and Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD), which indicate the amount of organic pollutants in the water.
According to EMA’s report on the disaster, the levels of COD and BOD have significantly decreased following the Agency’s quick response in decontaminating the water.
EMA’s environmental quality inspector (hazardous substances and wastes), Mr Irvine Nyaguwa said: “The COD and BOD levels which had been classified as red have since September 4 advanced to the blue-green class, which is a very good sign that we are on the right direction towards water restoration.
“EMA is monitoring the progress of the water restoration and providing updates on the situation. Our post clean-up monitoring strategy is to measure key water quality parameters and indicators.
“As EMA, we focus on the ambient water quality, not the drinking water quality,” said Mr Nyaguwa.
Councillor for the area, Councillor Robert Bande said due to the disaster, water has become scarce.
He said they are expecting positive results from EMA’s quick response.
“We did not know how dangerous the chemical was and what impact it would have on the environment. EMA acted quickly and stopped us from exposing ourselves to the contaminated water.
“We saw the fish dying in the river and we ate them for a day. EMA then came in and told us to stop doing so. They also told us not to drink water from the river,” said Councillor Bande.
One of the villagers, Ms Sheila Gudyanga, said they use Murare River for their water consumption.
“We thank the authorities for their quick response. We hope they will soon give us the nod to use water from Murare River,” she said.
