At the African Water Facility (AWF) Governing Council meeting held in Harare, Zimbabwe in November 2013, the Government of Zimbabwe expressed its interest to be included in the “Cities of the Future” Program. This concept encompasses “Integrated Urban Water Management” (IUWM) principles. Marondera is the provincial capital of Mashonaland East Province of Zimbabwe, located about 70 km east of Harare and has a population of around 70,000. Marondera relies on raw water supplied by four dams. The existing water treatment plant has pumping limitations. Apart from the aged infrastructure, the intermittent power supply has its own toll in limiting the production capability of the treatment system and pumping and distribution of treated water. The sanitation situation in Marondera is critical. Although 91% of the properties in the town have access to a toilet, the collected sewage is not being treated. The recycling of solid waste in the town is very minimal and is carried out by unlicensed scavengers who sell it to waste collectors mainly from Harare.
The project will contribute to improving the well-being of the population of Marondera through the provision of equitable and sustainable urban drainage, water supply (including WTP) and wastewater management (including WWTP), strengthened resilience to effects related to climate change; and consolidated capacity of the town of Marondera to achieve the National Municipal performance targets as set by the Government of Zimbabwe as well as achieve the water-related targets as defined in the Sustainable Development Goals. In order to reach these objectives, the project aims at developing a Master Plan including an investment plan and an analysis of water resources availability at the sub catchment area at the time horizon of 2040.
