[File Photo]

The Water Authority of Fiji intends to get the Rewa River Water Supply Scheme project in Viria, Naitasiri, up and running by Fiji Day on October 10th.

Speaking on ‘Saqamoli Matters’, WAF Chief Executive, Dr Amit Chanan says the construction of the project is progressing well despite challenges in the initial period and is scheduled to be in the commissioning phase by the end of next month.

Dr Chanan says the commissioning phase of the $270 million project will last around two months.

He adds that they have doubled the scheduling and planning to ensure the project is not delayed.

“The construction will finish at the end of July. Then, for a project of this nature, you have to start commissioning. There are lots of water-holding tanks, and you have to fill them with water and make sure the components are working and there are no leaks. That happens for a couple of months to get it fine-tuned and get the right-tasting water. Once all that passes the quality test, we put the water in the network.”

Dr Chanan says with more water coming into the network, the 50-year-old network remains with lots of leaking pipes.

He adds that more water and pressure coming into the system means more bursts; therefore, investment needs to be made to ensure that the old network is managed well.

Meanwhile, Dr Chanan says WAF never had a national-level strategy for water.

He adds that WAF did master planning at the individual asset level, which led to the establishment of the Rewa River water supply scheme.