The Water Authority produces 172 million litres of drinkable water daily and this is not enough.

According to the Authority, this is just two million litres short in meeting the daily demands of the Suva/Nausori corridor.

WAF Board Chair, Bhavesh Patel says this is one of the main reasons behind intermittent water supply in the majority of the areas.

Patel says water demands in the Suva-Nausori corridor is 174 million litres per day.

“Now if we have an issue in terms of the raw water that we source from Waimanu River and other sources from Waimanu, Tamavua and Waila Treatment plant. Talking about the high turbidity or muddy water when that happens, obviously production falls because we have to slow down the treatment to let the suspended solids which are are soil particles or any of the solids to settle, it takes time so the production reduces.”

Patel says due to aging infrastructure, production slows down on some day, resulting in less water being pumped into the reservoirs.

“When there is a deficit of 10m litres the reservoir do not get filled at the levels that are sustainable to push the water to the elevated areas.”

The Water Authority of Fiji is relying on the upcoming Viria Water project to put an end to the constant water woes in most parts of the Suva-Nausori corridor.

The project is expected to be completed in two years’ time.