The business of safe water

摘要

The recent cyclone Idai disaster in Mozambique reminded me of another life, when I ran the water supply of Beira. Contrary to media reports, Beira wasn't the worst affected by the cyclone - that was the dubious privilege of the small town of Buzi on the other side of a rather wide estuary. Beira's water supply was restored within a few days of the cyclone when the power lines were put back up. But it was always a challenge to keep the city's water running and safe, not least because important things like chemicals for water treatment competed with products like petrol forforeign exchange. We could get lime locally, but aluminium sulphate and chlorine were imported.