Zim Now Writer
The Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority says it is increasing consumer awareness following a 400% increase in filling station site caught out with substandard product.
Zera says it fined 12 fuel dealers and withdrew the licence of one dealer after sampling tests established offenses at the sites.
“Four blend samples and 8 diesel samples failed to meet specifications resulting in the prosecution of the retail sites in the year. The offending sites paid fines ranging from $20 000 to $200 000 and one of the retail sites had their licence cancelled,” Zera said in their report for 2021.
Zera 2021 fuel quality monitoring activities covered 592 sites nationwide. The authority tested 860 fuel sample. The 12 offenses identified are a 400% jump on the 2020 figure of three offenders, Zera said.
The 12 offenses were split into seven low flash point diesel, three low density petrol and two water contamination cases.
According to online sources, flash point is the lowest temperature at which a liquid can give off vapor to form an ignitable mixture in air near the surface of the liquid.
The lower the flash point, the easier it is to ignite the material, which therefore means that low flash point diesel is more highly flammable, increasing risk of fire.
Fuel density is measured “the mass of fuel per unit volume”. This means low density petrol gives less mileage per litre than the set standard and filling stations selling such a product are scamming the consumer.
Experts told Zim Now that water contamination usually happens because of poor quality equipment, lack of proper monitoring and maintenance routines or a combination of factors. They said water contamination can generally be traced to delivery of contaminated fuel, condensation collecting in tanks, or leaks through tank breathers.
They said the water contaminated fuel causes damage to the vehicle system through rust and foreign growths in sensitive parts. They also advised that motorists should physically check the quality of fuel at the filling station as it can be easy to detect water contamination with the naked eye.
“Fuel should be clear. If it looks cloudy or opaque, do not allow it to enter your vehicle tank,” one expert told Zim Now.
“Zera is stepping up consumer awareness of the authority’s quality testing services and is emphasizing the need for consumers to make prompt reports to enable timeous sampling of fuel batches in the investigations,” the authority said.
Zera said it increased its site visits by 34% in 2021 compared to 2020.
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