The Water Authority of Fiji

The Water Authority of Fiji is now seeking external support to help alleviate the issue of non-revenue water in the country.

Stemming from aging infrastructure, WAF is dealing with over 500 bursts in Suva and more than 400 in the Western division on a monthly basis.

Chief Executive Dr. Amit Chanan says that annually, 47 percent of water is lost due to these leaks, significantly contributing to high water loss.

He also emphasizes the necessity of advanced leak detection technology.

“But noting that most of these leaks are visible leaks, there’s a lot of pipes that are still buried, and there are leaks in that as well. So we do need more sophisticated leak detection technology so we can actually find them before they become visible.”

Dr. Chanan states that they are also seeking assistance from the Asian Development Bank to address the issue.

“We’ve just gone out to market for a water loss reduction tender, where we will be seeking the best practice in the world to come and work with our team, build the capacity and help us identify these leaks. And our aim is that during the term of this contract, which will be five years, is we want to at least half the water loss that we’re currently experiencing.”

The Water Authority of Fiji had revealed that non-revenue water costs them a massive $23 million annually.

Some of Fiji’s pipelines are over 50 years old that are still in operation.