The new $8.34 million Nagado water treatment plant will benefit 38,810 households in Nadi, according to Minister for Public Works, Transport, and Meteorological Service, Ro Filipe Tuisawau.
Ro Filipe recently visited new government-funded project sites in the western region.
“The new water treatment plant incorporates new technologies where processing and critical data can be monitored from Lautoka and Suva,” said Ro Filipe.
“The importance of updated technologies is that they evaluate the amount of water that needs to be used,” he added. “It is crucial that we have updated technologies in water monitoring, and that data is captured to give a clear understanding of how much water is being used for households, farms, or industries. This allows us to plan accordingly moving forward.”
“As we understand, resources are limited. Whatever development we undergo must match our available resources to avoid future environmental issues.”
Ongoing construction works on the pipeline from Varaqe to Saru in Lautoka, and the Nagado Water Treatment Plant to Nadele, Nadi, are expected to be completed by December this year.
“In the Nadi and Lautoka areas, with the developments coming up such as hotels, industrial areas, subdivisions, and other projects, there is an increased demand for water,” Ro Filipe noted.
“That is why we need to approach all developments in a sustainable manner. We must balance the amount of water we can extract with the number of developments to meet the availability of resources we have, whether it is water, land, or other resources,” he emphasized. “It is critical to balance developments.”