Apr 2024 – Rural Water Supply Network

This blog is written by Patricia Kroes, the founder of Save Our Fiji, which is a non-profit organisation that provides healthy and safe drinking water in the rural areas of Fiji.

Photo Credit: Viniana Bau

Fiji, known for its stunning beaches and pristine waters, is a tropical paradise. However, beyond the tourist destinations lies a harsh reality for many rural communities. In rural communities, access to clean and safe drinking water is a daily struggle for thousands of residents. Save Our Fiji, a non-profit organisation, is dedicated to tackling this pressing issue and ensuring that every individual in rural Fiji has access to clean water. In this blog post, we’ll explore the water challenges prevalent in rural Fiji and delve into the mission of Save Our Fiji in addressing these critical issues.

Water Challenges in Rural Fiji

Rural communities in Fiji encounter numerous obstacles in accessing clean water. Contamination of water sources is a significant concern, stemming from agricultural runoff, improper waste disposal, and inadequate sanitation facilities. This contamination leads to waterborne diseases and poses serious health risks to residents. Additionally, the accessibility of clean water is hindered by the remote locations of many rural communities. Residents often endure long journeys to fetch water, straining their time and energy, particularly for women and children.

Infrastructure shortcomings further compound the water crisis in rural Fiji. The lack of piped water systems and water treatment facilities contributes to unreliable water supply and poor water quality. Moreover, Fiji’s vulnerability to climate change exacerbates the situation, with changing rainfall patterns and extreme weather events affecting water availability and quality. Droughts, floods, and water scarcity are recurrent challenges faced by rural communities.

by Joseph T Njanike

Photo: Supervised Borehole Drilling Project: Collection of Water Samples for Water Quality Analysis at a completed Borehole during the Final Certification Process

As one of the few remaining qualified, experienced, and active drilling supervisors in Zimbabwe, I would like to share experiences on the status of borehole drilling supervision in my country, Zimbabwe.

Drilling Supervision: A Technical Perspective

Rural areas, where the majority of Zimbabweans reside, are mainly serviced through groundwater sources for their water supply needs. The life span for a significant number of boreholes that have invariably become the technology of choice in Zimbabwe has in most cases proved to be short. This has mainly been due to shortcomings bedeviling the drilling and construction process thereby making the professionalisation of the borehole drilling imperative. Borehole drilling supervision, among other factors, is an integral component of the borehole drilling professionalisation process. This requires the hiring of professionals with relevant qualifications and experience to provide adequate supervision of drilling and related operations for the purposes of controlling the quality of work and securing compliance with the design and technical specifications stipulated for the drilling works as well as generating information for making key decisions in terms of on-site design modifications and the final borehole depth. In this context, questions about whether there is sufficient capacity to supervise borehole drilling in Zimbabwe would need some answers.

Professionals have left the country

Most of the qualified hydrogeologists or professionals with a geological background and relevant experience in drilling supervision have migrated to other countries in the Southern Africa region and beyond. This has largely been due to the fact that job opportunities in the groundwater development field in Zimbabwe are scarce.

Month: Apr 2024

Addressing Water Challenges in Rural Fiji: The Mission of Save Our Fiji

Borehole Drilling Supervision Capacity in Zimbabwe