The Water Authority of Fiji (WAF) wishes to advise its customers living in parts of Sigatoka listed below that they will be experiencing low water pressure to intermittent water supply from Monday (17/10) to Wednesday (19/10).
Affected areas include:
· Elevated areas of Olosara;
· Korotogo and neighbouring area;
· Part of Sigatoka Town and Lawaqa area;
· Kedrakulu and neighbouring area;
· Rakirakilevu,, Kulukulu, Malaqereqere, Mataqe, Tulalevu and Yadua neighbouring areas;
· Elevated areas of Cuvu, Naidovi, Uluisila, Nadromai settlement;
· Naduri, Nawamagi, Naroro and Malevu Village; and
· Sigatoka Hospital & neighbouring areas
WAF Chief Operating Officer, Seru Soderberg says that the interruption in water supply is as a result of high influx of algae and slightly higher raw water turbidity received at Matovo Water Treatment Plant, causing frequent clogging of sand filters.
“The frequent clogging of filters has started to have bottleneck on the filtration process and as a result causing clarified water to frequently overflow from the filters.”
“To overcome the situation, WAF has introduced pre-treatment at the treatment plant to control the algae, however due to the high raw water turbidity; frequent filter backwashing is required to clean the filters in addition to the pre-treatment,” said Mr Soderberg.
The additional filter backwashing during this exceptional situation is having an effect on reduction in water production at the treatment plant and low water levels at the reservoirs, hence causing low water pressure to intermittent water supply to the customers residing in Sigatoka area.
WAF would like to inform the customers that its technicians are closing working on resolving the issue at Matovo Water Treatment Plant and water supply to the areas listed above shall be progressively normalised by Wednesday evening (19/10).
Customers residing in the areas listed above are advised to store water for use during this temporary disruption period.
WAF urges customers to conserve and store sufficient amounts of water to last them for at least two to three days in their homes at all times. Customers are also encouraged to invest in storage containers or water tanks connected to the water system for storage and backup water supply during any unplanned disruption that may arise due to emergency works or natural disasters.
Mr Soderberg says the WAF sincerely apologises for any inconvenience caused.
“We seek your understanding and patience until such time water supply is normalized. Water carting trucks will be on standby to service the affected areas during the temporary disruption period,” said Mr Soderberg.
For further enquiries, customers can contact WAF on its 24/7 National Contact Centre on 3346777 or shortcode 5777 (all mobile networks) or email contact@waf.com.fj