Families trek to unsafe wells as taps run dry in drought-hit Zimbabwe

City authorities say they have had to shut down water supplies for 96 hours a week to cope with a sharp fall in reservoir levels caused by the country's worst drought in years

Water cut for two days at a time amid drought

Reservoir levels falling around Bulawayo

Shortages exacerbate economic crisis

By MacDonald Dzirutwe

BULAWAYO, Zimbabwe, Jan 27 (Reuters) - In Zimbabwe's second city Bulawayo, Abraham Kavalanjila and his two sons give up waiting for the water to come back on and trek out into the maize fields to draw on an open well.

They know it is risky drinking untreated water from a borehole used by so many other people. "We have no option. This water is dangerous as you can see, just check," says Kavalanjila, pointing to a pile of human waste nearby.

Source: Reuters - Thomson Reuters Foundation