HARARE City Council last week commissioned new equipment to unblock clogged sewer pipes with Town clerk Dr Tendai Mahachi promising residents an end to sewer blockages.

The new machinery signals the end of manual de-choking of blocked sewer lines with metal rods.

The equipment, known as the high velocity or jet machine, pushes materials blocking sewer lines for 200 metres and can also be used to suck the materials out.

A demonstration on how the equipment works was done in Highfield last week.

"We want to have less than 10 percent blocked sewers in the city. We are committing ourselves," said Dr Mahachi.

He said Harare residents were sick and tired of blocked and overflowing sewers. He urged personnel from Harare Water to effectively use the new equipment to improve the lives of residents. The equipment has been in use in South Africa and other countries in Europe, Asia and America for over 55 years. Three machines were bought from South Africa at a cost of R1, 3 million. The money was part of a US$17,1 million facility Government advanced to the city last year to improve water and sewer service delivery.

Five machines are required to cover all suburbs affected by sewer blockages. Mr Harold Crown, whose company Cemo Pumps supplied the equipment, said, "These units will be used to clean, by way of high pressure water, sewer pipes and drains in and around the city.

"These units cannot only unblock pipes but can also suck a certain amount of product from pits, sumps and ponds."