Globally, problems related to water quality are escalating especially in urban areas. In
Zimbabwe, and particularly in Chinhoyi, water pollution is a real challenge. Thus the
study focused on analysing the challenges that water pollution posses on the provision of
standard water quality in Chinhoyi urban. Data collection involved field observations
and measurements, questionnaire interviews and secondary data. Landsat TM satellite
images of the 19th of May 1989, 17th of December 1999 and 30th of September 2000 were
used to determine land use and land cover changes using the Normalised Difference
Vegetation Index (NDVI). It was found out that the excessively high levels of nitrates,
coliform bacteria, iron, and manganese recorded attest to water that is polluted the water
failed to meet the WHO (1982) and standards association of Zimbabwe (SAZ) guidelines
for clean and safe water. Moreover, the consumption of contaminated water increased
the number of reported cases of water borne diseases such as cholera, dysentery and
diarrhoea. This necessitated chlorination in water purification. From the image analysis
it was also found out that more land had been converted to cultivation within and around
the town therefore possibly increasing chances of non-point pollution. It is therefore
recommended that there is need to introduce mechanisms to control the notable levels of
agro-chemical pollution, such as prohibiting urban agriculture along stream banks as
well as to minimise sewage pipe leakage.