Tap Water Disruptions to Persist for Three Decades

Tap water disruptions around the country are expected to continue for the next three decades, says Water Authority of Fiji chief executive officer Amit Chanan.

This as the authority rolls out its 2050 Water Sector Strategy which was grouped in five, 10 and 15-year brackets.

The Central Division - from Veisari to Tailevu - had a "a reliable water source" since Viria was connected, he said.

"The only part of Suva-Nausori system that is now still facing some disruption is this part of the system that gets fed from Tamavua, and is mostly the elevated areas.

"We have a project coming up which will bring Viria water to the Tamavua system."

Until then, intermittent tap water supply between Suva and Nausori was to be expected.

"In terms of the rest of the country Nadi, Lautoka, in the west there's a lot of growth, a lot of increase due to tourism," he said.

"We are bringing in additional 20 million litres a day by upgrading the Nagado treatment plant.

"That should help us in the immediate future.

"But in the long term, water sector strategy identifies that we urgently need a new storage because Vaturu dam is not enough to cater for the dry spell that happens between April and November.

“And we do need another storage very quickly.”

Construction of a new dam to assist with water storage in Vaturu was included in the Fiji Water Sector Strategy 2050, Mr Chanan said.

“The strategy has lots of projects until 2050, but they are prioritised based on the population, urban centres, and the impact. “

Some projects need to be carried out within the next five years, some by 2030, Mr Chanan said.

Nadi-Lautoka for example, were high priority areas that needed funding and additional storage, he said.

“We need to start working on that within the next five days,” Mr Chanan said.

“The strategy is called 2050 because there are projects up to 2050, but the aim is to have the projects prioritised.

“If we have funding and the commitment that we’re seeking from our multilateral funding partners and climate finance funding partners by the time we implement the projects that we have identified, we will have a very reliable climate resilient water system, not only water supply, but also on the sanitation side; we will have a good sanitation system as well.”

Projects were also in place to assist low-income earning families that resided in intermittent water supply-prone areas, Mr Chanan said.

“We do have a rainwater tank rebate programme and we have provided rebates for household level, as well as placed tanks in the community level.

“We work with turaga ni koro’s, district advisory counsellors, and where there is a need we provide those communities with tanks, and regularly fill it up.

“That is an immediate interim solution.

“The long-term solutions are all identified in the water sector 2050 and we will gradually keep building,” he said.

“The way we have the water projects identified is through a hub-and-spoke model, where we’re creating border water hubs by creating big water treatment plants, then extend the pipelines to adjoining very urban areas and the villages.

“The spokes then take the water to the neighbouring area.

“If you follow that, we will be able to have the bulk of villages that have communal tanks connected within the next 15 to 20 years, especially in the peri-urban areas.”

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