The Water Authority of Fiji says speculations on social media relating to the alleged presence of dead cattle at Balevuto Dam in Ba are incorrect.

WAF received complaints on Saturday raising concerns about water supply contamination affecting the community fed by the Balevuto Water Supply Scheme.

The Ministry of Health had also, in a release, raised concerns regarding the increase in the number of diarrhoea cases among residents due to a contaminated water source.

The Ministry states that three people have died this week after drinking contaminated water in Balevuto, Ba.

WAF Chief Operating Officer Seru Soderberg says their officials from Operations and Water Quality Laboratory were deployed to investigate the claims made about the dead cattle carcass within its raw water supply dam catchment and to carry out water sampling testing.

Soderberg says the findings from the testing complied with the Fiji National Drinking Water Quality Standards, and there were no dead cattle or anything unusual present at the dam site.

He adds that the water samples were also analyzed for microbiological contamination, and the results showed there were no total or faecal coliforms present in the treated water from the scheme.

The Chief Operating Officer says they also carried out extensive flushing on its reticulation and cleaned the reservoir that serves the Balevuto scheme in efforts to ensure consistent water quality and put an end to the rumours of water contamination.

As raw water quality in the catchment changes with weather and catchment events, Soderberg says they are investigating if there are any other possible sources of contamination.
The Water Authority of Fiji is also working with the Ministry of Health to validate water sampling test results and ensure public health remains our utmost priority.

The two teams are currently carrying out additional testing within the Balevuto System.

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