City appeals for million-person toilet flush to unclog sewers
HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) - City authorities in Zimbabwe's second largest city said Saturday they were appealing to home owners to flush their toilets at a specified time as a way to unblock sewers after days of severe water rationing.
Bulawayo City Council has asked its more than 1 million residents to flush their toilets simultaneously at 7:30 p.m. when water supplies are restored. City officials say "synchronized flushing" is needed to clear waste that would have accumulated in sanitary facilities which will have been affected by days of water outages.
Bulawayo's two main supply dams have been drying up because of drought conditions prevailing in the arid, southwestern part of Zimbabwe, raising fears of worsening water shortages before the rainy season starts in November.
Synchronized flushing was first introduced to Bulawayo two decades ago at the height of a drought that ravaged the southern African nation.
Residents told The Associated Press late Saturday that they weren't "aware" of the new system the city council was proposing. They said the whole issue wasn't properly communicated to them.
Old water pipes have not been replaced in years which saw world record inflation before the formation of a coalition government between longtime President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai.
Power and water outages are common in Zimbabwe following years of political turmoil and economic meltdown.
Civic organizations said any moves by city authorities to solve water and sanitation problems dogging the southwestern province were welcome, but were also awaiting communication from them.
Bulawayo City Council has asked its more than 1 million residents to flush their toilets simultaneously at 7:30 p.m. when water supplies are restored. City officials say "synchronized flushing" is needed to clear waste that would have accumulated in sanitary facilities which will have been affected by days of water outages.
Bulawayo's two main supply dams have been drying up because of drought conditions prevailing in the arid, southwestern part of Zimbabwe, raising fears of worsening water shortages before the rainy season starts in November.
Synchronized flushing was first introduced to Bulawayo two decades ago at the height of a drought that ravaged the southern African nation.
Residents told The Associated Press late Saturday that they weren't "aware" of the new system the city council was proposing. They said the whole issue wasn't properly communicated to them.
Old water pipes have not been replaced in years which saw world record inflation before the formation of a coalition government between longtime President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai.
Power and water outages are common in Zimbabwe following years of political turmoil and economic meltdown.
Civic organizations said any moves by city authorities to solve water and sanitation problems dogging the southwestern province were welcome, but were also awaiting communication from them.
Just in time...  Lets do it Tuesday, November 7, 2012.
Doesn't this happen here in the USAÂ during the ad breaks on televised football games?
You can thank the stupid low capacity toilets for that.
@Klondiko
Actually I think they said that water outages caused the problem. I do agree that the new water saver toilets can be a problem. We just replaced one of ours while remodeling a bathroom. We did all the work and picked out the toilet ourselves. There is a ton of information on each toilet, including being rated on how well it flushes. The contractor/builder is going more on price. We paid a bit more, but it works just as well, if not better than the others in the house. Â
@Klondiko Um, think that one over again. I doubt, that the government in zimbabwe is encouraging citizens to replace their toilets with low capacity ones, and offering rebates. Consider, that when inflation exceeded percentages in late 2008 (2008 Mid-Nov.89,700,000,000,000,000,000,000%), and the highest denomination note issued was $100,000,000,000,000. In a country, where an egg costed $50 billion Zimbabwe dollars, it is pretty unlikely that any citizen over there had the disposable income to afford to get rid of their existing toilet and install a low-volume one on their own. Nor do I think any of them cared.
@northwestsurfer "egg costed $50 billion" wasn't that you being and "intelligence cop" in earlier post of mine and now you want to police Klondiko's thoughts? Hey, I got an idea, why dont you go stuff yourself.
@T_BONE_WALKER
Smart guy, read my post again; an egg in Zimbabwe cost $50 billion Zimbabwe dollars. Thats Zimbabwe dollars, not US dollars, and with the exchange rate to American dollars, that comes out to $.32 (cents). Before you think you have something else to argue about, that is because of hyperinflation; world record setting inflation. Inflation so high, Zimbabwe issued a $1 hundred-trillion dollar note.
Â
 I usually dont make a habit of being a troll, so I dont keep names, so i do not remember you or ever commenting to you. I'm not a troll dude, but it looks like you are, because you didnt even have anything on subject to say, you just were mad because someone put you in your place. Excuse me now, I have to go stuff myself.
Hopefully those old pipes will hold up during a synchronized flush. Otherwise, their gonna have a lot of crap to deal with.
 @Tattooed_Angel It would look like this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKDDYPCQWKU
Sounds like a crappy idea during a drought.
Â
This is going to end well
Sounds kinda cool. Big water pressure by simultanious flushing. :)
Remember folks, our turn comes in November. Donât forget to flush and clean that  sewer out.
@oldster70 Well, then I am going to take a huge dump then before Romney gets elected, because once that happens, the sewage is washington is going to be so overwhelming, it will invade and clog the pipes throughout thte country to the point that everything is coated in shizznit
 @oldster70 Remember, folks, it's possible to turn ANYTHING into a political issue. That kitten in the tree last week? Obama's fault. Somehow. :P
Â
(Do you REALLY have to turn EVERYTHING political? Geez.)
@KieferSkunk @oldster70 Thanks, I feel like I am the only one that says anything. I'm so tired of it.
@KieferSkunk Sorry, it was just one of those word association things.Â
You couldn't be more right. Be sure to vote out all the do-nothing republicans, so this nation can actually move forward.