A new water system in the highlands of Ra

Soa is a small village in Nakorotubu district of the Ra Province in Viti Levu, Fiji’s largest island. Roughly 400 people live in Soa. The main work in the village is farming – growing crops such as yaqona (i.e. kava) and root crops such as dalo and tavioca (i.e. cassava). The village also has one primary school, Bureivanua school and a kindergarten.

The village and schools were relying on an old water system put in approximately 30 years ago, with two large concrete tanks. The system was not working well, the village only had water for half a day, and needed to ration their usage, meaning there was not enough water for everyone, particularly for sanitation and hand washing – putting them at risk of water born diseases.

In Fiji, government support for water in rural communities is limited. Villages are largely expected to find and manage their own water systems, with the support of various NGOs. Most villages have rudimentary systems directing water from nearby streams to a central tank, but many are aging and unreliable – only providing water for a few hours in the morning, or none at all during the dry season.

The Ministry of Health contacted Caritas Fiji through the disaster coordinator around a typhoid outbreak in the village during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021.

The problem was water scarcity – it was a large village and there was not enough water for basic sanitation, particularly in the schools. This resulted in a typhoid outbreak which required urgent action.

The Caritas team arrived at the village and presented a SevuSevu, traditional protocol for entering the village. Afterwards, with the village headman, the team did a technical assessment of the site, identifying the water source and the issues with the existing system, and the site selection for the new tank.

Like with most Caritas Fiji WASH projects – the team designed a gravity only system – it has no electronics or pumps – to ensure it is able to be cared for by the local community with local resources. This ensures long term sustainability – there are many examples of well-intentioned complex water systems in Fiji being built and then not surviving the Fiji wet season.

The team transported 6 tons of material to the site. This included the 500kg poly-tank, cement, blocks, timber, rebar and various other supplies.

The material was sourced from Vinod Patel in Suva, then driven to Soa. Once off the highway, the roads were mostly gravel and dirt and almost all uphill. The drive took almost three hours. The village and the Caritas team unloaded the materials, and the construction began the same day.

The Caritas Fiji team generally lives on site with the community for the duration of the project, often several months. The community lead the design of the system and do most of the work building the system, Caritas Fiji just provides the technical guidance, expertise and structure to deliver the projects. This ensures the community is invested in the new system and ensures it is maintained and delivers long term quality water supply.

First the village leveled the ground to build foundations for the tank. The foundations are important for the tank to last over the long term – it gives the tank some extra leverage and keeps it safe from damage from flooding and landslides and the fittings to be able to be well connected. This was done just with hand tools and the village – no power tools or earth moving equipment was used.

Then the concrete slab was poured and set to cure for seven days. The tank was then lifted into position – again without the power tools, purely with the village.

The mainline pipe was then fitted flowing from the water source, to the new tank. This used 150meters worth of standard PVC pipe. The team then added two new separate out pipes that can independently take water to the village – one to the higher parts of the village which needs more water pressure and the other to the lower section of the village, regulated with separate valves.

After the tank and piping was constructed, the Caritas team tested the new water system.

First the team checks the pressure is enough to fill the tank, and overfill the tank. The moment water first starts flowing into the tank is extraordinary! The system is then left to run with open lines for about three hours to let all the old dirt and gunk flow out of the system – this is called “flushing”. The team often puts piping slightly higher than the tank to ensure there is ample pressure for fulling the tank even in the dry season and with lower levels of flow.

Finally, the village of Soa has a reliable water system that provides water all day. We give our thanks to the generous donors – Catholic Relief Services and USAID, the Water Authority of Fiji and the people of Soa for supporting another successful project!

Water is fundamental to human dignity and something many people around the world take for granted.

Caritas Fiji then runs a training for the whole village around maintaining the new water system. This includes technical skills, but also the basics of WASH, sanitation and generally taking care of the system.

The water system is still working as of early 2026. In fact, the villiage has expanded the water system, adding additional piping themselves to service new homes that have been built.