Water, Water Everywhere

April 23, 2011

One of the problems in Samoa is not the lack of fresh water, but its distribution and pricing. It is estimated that 1/3 of the fresh water is lost to leakage. Water pipes are above ground and are often broken. This leads to not only to a loss of water, but to the accumulation of little chucks of “stuff” and dirt which also come out of the faucet.

In some villages, the Village Council has elected to join the Samoan Water Authority to maintain its water supply and quality. For this, the water is metered and villagers are charged for their water usage. In other villages, I suspect the one I live in now, have their own water source and provide it to villagers free of charge. This leads to geysers sprouting everywhere, but only a dribble at the tap.