Over thirty households at Tiapapata Village have had to cope with muddy and unsanitary water supply for over two decades despite having metered water supply.

For most of the families, they were only connected to the water supply grid at the turn of the century, however being connected to the water supply has not changed things for the families as they have had to endure unsanitary supply. This means that most of these families hardly use the water from the taps.

Families are having to spend extra on water as they are buying it, some make the regular trips to the laundromat.

Tiapapata resident Evelina Liz Groen shared her daily struggles and that of her family. She said they are storing water in tanks and buying water for consumption.

Her family moved to Tiapapata in 1995 and during those days there was no water supply until the metered water was connected almost five years later.

"But even when the metered water or the pipe lines were connected, it was so dirty that we couldn't even consume it nor use it for our laundry," she told the Samoa Observer in an interview.

"It's a real hassle or struggle for us but we remain hopeful that it would change because if not for our water tanks, we wouldn't know how we would cope."

For the Groen family, their everyday routine is buying water from the shops for consumption, using stored tank water for bathing and cleaning and spending money at a laundromat for their laundry.

"We tried to use the metered water for our laundry before but we always end up having our clothes rewashed at a laundromat because they always come out either not clean or dirtier because of the water," she added.

"It's really saddening because it's been too long and we've been suffering. We have to endure dirty water supply on a daily basis and nothing's been improved.

"We've contacted the Samoa Water Authority before and obviously, nothing's been done yet."

Mrs. Groen lives with her three children and other relatives at Tiapapata and is hoping for a change in their water supply at the earliest.

Another resident who has lived at Tiapapata for over three decades, Tina Sealiimalietoa also told this newspaper in an interview that it has also become a normal routine for her family to share water with neighbours, store rainwater in tanks and contact the officials for water tank refill.

"We can't even use the water from the connected or metered water to clean our dishes because it's super dirty and this is the struggle I understand, the Tiapapata families have been enduring for a very long time now," she said.

"I remember we moved here around 1986 and there was no water supply at all. Then around 2000 or a bit after that year, we were approached with good news that our water will be connected to the Government's metered water supply.

"However, since the water was connected, the water we got was very dirty and never came out clean nor had it done for a whole single day but it didn't. It was always dirty.

"Since we stored water in our tanks, our neighbours are always coming here with their buckets to fetch water from our tanks for consumption.

"From the tanks, we get to do most of the things we could've used the metered water for but no."

According to Mrs. Sealiimalietoa, the Tiapapata families were approached and informed by the Samoa Water Supply (S.W.A.) officials that their new line which started being connected in 2019, will be completed in March this year.

However, nothing has been done to date.

Samoa Observer visited Tiapapata on Friday and spoke to the families including the two concerned residents. There are approximately over 30 families there and an accommodation which also had bigger water tanks as their source of water.

Most of the families rely on water tanks at Tiapapata and their struggle is doubled during the dry season.

Samoa Observer also visited the S.W.A. water catchment at Tiapapata which the families claim, is the source of their connected water supply.

The catchment looked as if it was abandoned for years and was filled with rubbish, mud and other debris. 

Meanwhile, questions were sent to S.W.A officials on Friday but response was received before this edition went to press.