WORK on the leaking pipeline at Batiti, a settlement located near the Vaturu Dam, began yesterday, resulting in a major shutdown of piped water to parts of Lautoka this long weekend.
Water Authority of Fiji (WAF) general manager customer services and acting general manager operations Sekove Uluinayau said all preparatory works were undertaken before the shutdown.
“The leakage is suspected to have started from the welding joints and this has deteriorated, causing WAF to lose approximately one megalitre per day,” he said.
The repair work is being carried out on the leaking 711mm MSCL tee along the Vaturu-Nagado high-pressure raw water pipeline.
“The repair work on the leaking tee is very critical at this stage as the leakage is seen to be deteriorating from the past few weeks and would be catastrophic to WAF should the leakage increase or the entire tee connection fails, thus resulting in major disruption in water supply to the customers in the Nadi and Lautoka area.”
About 100 water tanks have been placed at nearly all villages and communities likely to face water disruptions.
Nineteen water carting trucks have also been deployed to refill the water tanks and to cart water to customers.
Water supply is expected to commence at 6am on Tuesday.
