The Water Authority of Fiji (WAF) continues to provide Fijians with clean water and wastewater services. More Fijians can now access this than ever before.
“WAF has made great progress in many of our critical projects and we continue to increase our operational efficiency and overall ability,” said WAF CEO, Barry Omundson.
“As a result we now have greater capacity to provide a clean and regular supply of water to Fijians, as well in terms of wastewater management.”
This includes projects under the Water Sources and Water Treatment Scheme, the Wastewater Treatment Plants Scheme, the Rural Water Supply Program and installation of new generators and switchboard systems to ensure reliable power supply to WAF facilities.
Water Sources and Water Treatment Scheme
WAF has engaged in 3 major contracts under their Water Sources and Water Treatment Scheme relating to packaged water treatment plants with new reservoirs for identified sites.
This encompasses a total of 7 sites at a total cost of approximately $32.5 million.
1 site in Deuba is in operation since November 2019 and 2 sites in Waiwai and Savusavu are currently being installed.
The fourth site in Levuka has completed manufacture and delivery and is stored for planned installation works by the end of 2020.
Another 2 sites in Vunidawa and Nabouwalu have had their designs completed and manufacturing is in progress. The 7th site which is in Nagado has had designs completed and will be scheduled for manufacture, delivery, and installation in the 2021/2022 Public Sector Investment Program (PSIP).
Under this scheme, a major reservoir construction project covering a total of 12 identified sites, having 15 reservoirs of varying capacities in total, is also included.
These works currently amount to approximately $29.4 million with 3 sites commissioned in Namau, Naikabula and Balevuto.
4 sites have reservoirs installed, pending connection works scheduled for 2020/2021 PSIP for Toorak, Tauvegavega, Nadi Hospital, Lautoka Hospital and Raralevu Tank 2.
4 other sites have reservoir construction works-in-progress at Raralevu Tank 1, Nawaicoba Tank 1 and Tank 2, Tacirua East, and Tavakubu.
1 site is currently under land negotiations with the Lautoka City Council and the Ministry of Local Government.
Wastewater Treatment Plants Scheme
A total of 14 projects were allocated for sewer extensions under the Wastewater Treatment Plants (WWTP) Scheme.
Of these, 6 projects are on-going due to the complexity of the project and one has been completed. The remaining 7 projects were shelved due to natural disasters and Covid-19.
Some of these projects are:
- Desludging Works at Navakai and Votua WWTP to be completed in 2021 impacting 90,000 people
- ACS Reticulation Pump Structure to be completed 31st July 2020 and impacting 800 people
- Kinoya WWTP Works including Consolidation Works Trickling Filter Arm Replacement to complete in 2021 and both impacting 90,000 people and Project Management Costs
The total cost of these projects is $7 million.
A total of 15 projects involved wastewater reticulation systems, with 10 on-going, 2 completed projects and 3 were shelved under COVID-19 allocations.
This included:
- Walu Bay Sewer Pipe Bridge Contract impacting 100,000 people
- Nabukalou Sewer Extension Phase4 impacting 1272 people Vatulaulau/Tauvegavega/Ba Prison Compound impacting 2,650 people
- Yahala (Sigatoka) System extension to complete in August 2020 impacting 200 people and Sigatoka Hospital
- Ba Industrial and Nanos Extension both impacting 720 and 1,620 people respectively.
The total cost of these projects is approximately $5.8 million.
Rural Water Supply Program
A total of 32 projects were identified under the rural water supply scheme at a cost of $11.2 million, however due to the COVID-19 Budget revision, this funding was reduced to $5.4 million. Projects under this scheme are ongoing and the total number of households to benefit from these projects is estimated at 11,043.
Generators and Switchboard Systems
At a total cost of $7.9 million, 25 new generators are being procured and are at the manufacturing stage expected to be installed late 2020 or early 2021.
This project will benefit Fijians in the three major regions (Central Eastern / Western / Northern) of Fiji by ensuring the smooth operation of water and wastewater pumping stations and treatment plants during a planned/unplanned power interruption by Energy Fiji Limited.
The installation of these new standby generators is mainly for major water stations such as Waila Raw Water and Treatment Plants, Wainibuku Pumping Station, Tamavua, and other similar stations in the Central Eastern Division, Matovo in the Western Division, and Vunivau in the Northern Division.
33 Sites with Wastewater Pumping Stations have been marked for switchboards systems at a total cost of $1.4 million and are currently on the tender awarding stage and manufacturing and installation will commence once the contracts have been signed.
These switchboards offer better protections on pumps and motors, maintaining its designed life expectancy increasing wastewater pump efficiency and reduction in the number of pump breakdowns.
WAF urges customers to store at least 2 days worth of water to build resilience in case of emergency disruptions.
WAF is a Commercial Statutory Authority established by the Fijian Government to provide efficient and effective water and wastewater services in an environmentally sound and sustainable manner.
WAF is responsible for providing access to quality drinking water and wastewater services to over 154,000 residential and non-residential metered customers residing largely in urban areas and also setting up water supply systems in rural schemes, reaching over 770,000 people nationwide.
WAF’s area of operation covers 18,274 square kilometers of the 332 islands in the Fiji archipelago of which only 110 islands are inhabited and our current water and wastewater network constitutes more than 4923 kilometers of pipes. The Authority provides approximately 116,342 megaliters of treated water annually to homes and businesses nationwide.