Harare residents are bracing for yet another waterless weekend after the City of Harare announced a fresh shutdown linked to urgent repair works on the capital’s main water supply system.
By Advent Shoko
In a public notice issued on Thursday, the local authority said it will undertake a major valve replacement at the Inkomo take-off point along the main water line from Morton Jaffray Water Works, one of the city’s key water treatment facilities.
According to the notice, some pumps at Morton Jaffray will be switched off on Friday, 17 April 2026 at 1800 hours to allow for pipe scouring and replacement works. Water supply is expected to begin reopening on Saturday, 18 April at around 1300 hours.
The council warned that several high-density, industrial, and residential areas will be affected during the shutdown.
Among the areas expected to go dry are:
- CBD
- Workington
- Harare Hospital
- Mbare
- Graniteside
- Northern suburbs
- Surrounding areas
Residents have been urged to use the available water sparingly before the interruption takes effect. Reads the notice:
“Residents are encouraged to sparingly use the water available before the shutdown comes into effect.”
The latest disruption comes barely two weeks after many suburbs endured a prolonged two-week water supply crisis, which council officials had attributed to an alleged unplanned pipe burst and ongoing infrastructure renovations.
That earlier outage triggered widespread frustration among residents, businesses, and health institutions, with many households forced to rely on boreholes, water bowsers, and private suppliers.
The recurrence of supply interruptions is likely to intensify concerns over the state of Harare’s aging water infrastructure, which has long been under pressure from decades of underinvestment, population growth, and recurrent maintenance failures.
The repeated outages are once again putting the spotlight on urban service delivery and municipal accountability, particularly as residents continue to pay rates amid deteriorating basic services.
For hospitals, industries, and densely populated suburbs such as Mbare, even short disruptions can have serious public health and economic implications.
While council says the works are necessary and temporary, for many Harare residents, the disruption effectively stretches far beyond the official shutdown window. In several suburbs, water rationing means taps often run dry as early as Wednesday, with households relying on expected weekend restoration. Even if supply resumes on Sunday, it may still take up to a week, as seen during the previous outage, for reservoirs and storage tanks to refill before water finally reaches outlying residential areas.
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