Safe and readily available water is important for public health, whether it is used for drinking, domestic use, food production or recreational purposes. It is a right that everyone should have access to.

Improved water supply and sanitation, and better management of water resources, can boost countries’ economic growth and can contribute greatly to poverty reduction. Yet, in many areas, the water received in homes is not considered safe for drinking.

These are highly populated areas and people have to fork out extra to buy drinking water while they have tapped water to their homes. There is still a lot to be done to ensure that the water that reaches homes is potable and drinkable.

Development partners like Japan and the Japan International Cooperation Agency are working with the Samoa Water Authority to bring about an improvement. They have recently completed the Capacity Enhancement Project for Samoa Water Authority in Cooperation with Okinawa Phase Two Project (CEPSO II).

The primary objectives of CEPSO II include improving water quality and minimising non-revenue water (NRW) losses from leaks in the water supply systems. It specifically targets two water supply schemes: Fuluasou in Upolu and Palauli in Savai'i, which have been identified as needing better water distribution management, leak detection, and service quality.

Key Components of CEPSO II are water quality improvement. Enhancing treatment processes to achieve a compliance rate exceeding 95 per cent for water quality standards.

The CEPSO II Project is vital for improving water quality and management in Samoa, building on the success of its initial phase that began in August 2014. The first phase achieved a remarkable 100 per cent compliance rate for treated water quality at the Alaoa Water Treatment Plant by January 2019, while also significantly reducing non-revenue water (NRW) from 68 per cent to 36 per cent.

Contaminated water and poor sanitation are linked to transmission of diseases such as cholera, diarrhoea, dysentery, hepatitis A, typhoid and polio. Absent, inadequate, or inappropriately managed water and sanitation services expose individuals to preventable health risks. This is particularly the case in healthcare facilities where both patients and staff are placed at additional risk of infection and disease when water, sanitation and hygiene services are lacking.

When water comes from improved and more accessible sources, people spend less time and effort physically collecting it, meaning they can be productive in other ways. This can also result in greater personal safety and reduce musculoskeletal disorders by reducing the need to make long or risky journeys to collect and carry water. Better water sources also mean less expenditure on health, as people are less likely to fall ill and incur medical costs and are better able to remain economically productive.

With children particularly at risk from water-related diseases, access to improved sources of water can result in better health, and therefore better school attendance, with positive longer-term consequences for their lives.

A major infrastructure investment is needed where bigger reservoirs are needed to supply and cater for a bigger population. Water that ultimately reaches people should be safe enough to drink. It should have gone through a process that rid it of contaminants and through a safe chemical process that kills off bacteria. There is evidence that also suggests that clean water helps in dental hygiene as well.

Let us hope that the work towards having every home have clean water progresses positively and that the government sees this as a priority to invest in. It may not happen in a year or two but work towards achieving this should never cease.

If the SWA needs more budgetary support to achieve this, that should be done. Access to clean drinking water that promotes health and hygiene is a right and a key government responsibility.