Inconsistent water supply will soon be eliminated for residents living in elevated areas of Colo-I-Suva, Khalsa Road, Tacirua, and Tamavua.

Inconsistent water supply will soon be addressed for residents living in elevated areas of Colo-I-Suva, Khalsa Road, Tacirua and Tamavua under a $40 million project.

This is as the Ministry of Public Works will soon evaluate the tender applications for the elevated Princess Road Water Infrastructure Project.

The project, expected to be completed within 18 months, will include a new gravity pipeline that will be installed from the Sawani junction to the pump station at Buresasa.

Apart from this, a pump station will also be built at Buresasa, and a rising main pipeline will be installed from the Buresasa pump station to the Colo-I-Suva Reservoir.

The project will also see the construction of tank reservoirs at Colo-I-Suva and a new gravity main pipe from the Colo-I-Suva Reservoir to the Khalsa Rd junction with an off-take provision.

Public Works Minister, Ro Filipe Tuisawau says the project will assist by shifting about nine million liters per day from the Tamavua Water Treatment Plant to the Viria Water Treatment Plant.

Ro Filipe says that this will allow the Tamavua Water Treatment Plant to retain an additional nine million liters per day in storage, ensuring that there is sufficient volume stored for supply and improvement in pressure.

He says for elevated area customers in Tacirua, Khalsa Road, and Tamavua, the changeover in the supply zone will also change their supply medium from a pumping system to a gravity system with better resilience.

The minister says this is due to the Viria Water Treatment Plant’s ability to handle high turbidity events, which the Tamavua Plant currently struggles with.

Ro Filipe also highlights that the proposed Tamavua Clarifier at the Tamavua Plant, once commissioned, will improve the Treatment Plant’s capacity to treat high turbidity events and ensure water supply reliability is enhanced, especially during adverse weather conditions.

He says that the Tamavua Clarifier funding is supposed to be resubmitted under the 2025/2026 fiscal year budget submission.

The Minister says that tender documents for this work has been developed and will be advertised soon, with the estimated cost sitting at around $10 million.

Ro Filipe says, in the interim, they have invested in chemicals to mitigate the impact of high turbidity at Tamavua.

He adds that they will need to install the Coanda Filtration System to mitigate the constant blockage, and the Finance Ministry, via the Special Climate Change Fund through the Global Environment Fund, is in the process of securing a grant of USD $3.5M.

The Minister says design, build, and implementation is projected to commence in February next year.

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