[Source: Supplied]

Residents in the Suva-Lami corridor can expect water disruptions as the Water Authority of Fiji’s two of the six main raw water sources for the Tamavua system have reached critical levels.

These include Savura Intake and Headworks 3.

The Authority in a statement says three others are also approaching critical levels which includes Headworks 1, Headworks 2 and the Waimanu Pump Station.

It says only one of the six sources – the Cascade source continues to operate normally.

WAF Regional Manager Operations, Samuela Rokovaleusa says looking at the weather forecasts, the public should expect the situation to impact WAF’s operations further as we approach the dry season.

[Source: Supplied]

Rokovaleusa says during this period, areas supplied from the Tamavua Water Treatment Plant system may experience intermittent supply as WAF Operation Teams might have to resort to valve operation subject to the treated water production levels.

He attributes the critical raw water production to low rainfall experienced at the catchments, which poses a low treated water production and a struggling reservoir level for the Tamavua Reservoir.

Rokovaleusa states with suppressed rainfall experienced within the last two months, most sources are now at the base flow condition hence total stream flows are dominated by groundwater contributions.

He adds minor rainfall events might not be significant enough to recover sources thus prolonged or high rainfall event is badly needed.

However, the forecast for the next three months does not confidently indicate wet conditions for most of Fiji.

Rokovaleusa says the decrease in the raw water sources has a direct impact on the water production efforts which in turn causes reservoir levels to deplete which will further delay the restoration of 24/7 water supply to elevated areas of the Tamavua system.

The WAF Hydrology Team is actively monitoring the situation at the main raw water sources.

WAF is urging customers to store adequate amounts of water to sustain a household for at least two days.