Isn’t it ironic that in a place world-famous for its bottled spring water the local villages often lack a dependable, clean water supply? Fiji bottled water is shipped all over the world at great expense and sold at a great profit while the village taps often run dry.
It’s not that the islands lack the fresh springs as a water source, they just don’t have the infrastructure to get the water from the spring to the village. Often times the water is polluted by animals as it runs down the peaks to the villages or runs low as the season turns from wet to dry. With water pollution causing so many issues, the use of water treatment may need to be brought in to keep water safe to bottle and drink. There is a product here that can be utilized, as well as other areas that can be looked at to make this safe again.
Ben showing off his machete.
Enter Ben Sorensen and Wananavu Kandavu. We met Ben while on Kadavu and had a chance to spend some time looking at his project in Kavala Bay. For the past two years Ben has worked in Fiji to build infrastructure water projects providing a sustainable water source for the local villages.
In Kadavu the project will supply water to the health clinic, post office, future police station, and an entire village. By building a small dam and reservoir at the spring source high in the mountains the water is captured and channeled through buried PVC tubing to 20,000 liter tanks. The tanks and reservoir are a few hundred feet above the village which provides plenty of water pressure.
Views of the reservoir and holding dam at the spring source.
Thousands of feet of PVC pipe laid through the jungle.
Ben uses all local labor and everything is done by hand since no machines are available. Local materials are used when available. All the block, sand, and bags of cement are carried up the slippery mountain through the jungle on the backs of Fijian villagers (and Ben too)!
Delos helping to bag sand from a local beach used for mixing cement.
Wananavu Kadavu is a 501(c) (3) nonprofit organization. If you are looking for a worthy cause to throw a few dollars towards check them out at www.wavanavukadavu.org. Tell them Delos sent you!
