Zimbabwe's US$3 Million Masembura Water Supply Pipeline Commissioned

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On September 21, the Masembura–Bindura water supply pipeline in Zimbabwe was officially commissioned. The project represents a total investment of US$3 million, jointly funded by Mutapa Gold Resources and the Bindura City Council, to provide a new water source for the Freda Rebecca Gold Mine processing plant and the Bindura municipal water supply system. The project has a total length of approximately 22 kilometers and was constructed by ZINWA Enterprises, with Mutapa Gold Resources contributing 60% of the investment and the Bindura City Council contributing 40%.

The pipeline uses fiberglass-reinforced plastic pipes with a design service life of at least 50 years and a water transmission capacity of 700 cubic meters per hour. The main system includes a 15-kilometer, 500-millimeter-diameter main transmission pipeline, a 3-kilometer, 350-millimeter-diameter branch line to the Freda Rebecca Gold Mine, and a 4-kilometer, 300-millimeter-diameter branch line to the Bindura municipal water treatment plant. The project also includes a 500-cubic-meter balancing reservoir and an 800 kVA backup generator to keep the pump station running during power outages.

The project adopts a combined pumped and gravity-fed water transmission scheme. Raw water is first conveyed via the pump station to the 500-cubic-meter balancing reservoir, and then delivered by gravity to the Freda Rebecca Gold Mine processing plant and the Bindura municipal water treatment facility respectively. During construction, the project provided approximately 80 local jobs.

Freda Rebecca previously relied mainly on water sources such as Mwenje Dam. In April 2025, Mwenje Dam's storage capacity once dropped to 36%, affecting the continuous water supply to the mine's processing plant. Freda Rebecca's ore processing production has a direct need for a stable water supply, and the commissioning of the Masembura pipeline adds an independent water supply route.

On the Bindura municipal side, water treatment capacity still needs to be further improved to match the scale of the newly added raw water transmission. Follow-up work will focus on expanding the municipal water treatment facility so that the new water source can enter the urban water supply network.