The Water Accounts 2021-2022 show that less electricity was generated from the hydro dams and that lesser households had to rely on rainwater because of metred connections.

The Samoa Bureau of Statistics has released the Environment Statistics, the Water Accounts 2021-2022 show in 2021-22, an estimated total of 136, 391 Mega Litres (ML) of water was abstracted from the environment into Samoa’s economy, a decrease of about 19.2 per cent or 32,366 ML of water when compared with 2020-21.

Abstracted water refers to water that is removed from any source or the environment, either permanently or temporarily for consumption and production activities. Water used for hydroelectricity is also abstracted water.

The decline was attributed to the decrease in abstracted water for hydroelectricity generation from 137,700 ML in 2020-21 to 104,570 ML in 2021-22.

As usual, water abstraction for hydroelectricity generation by the electricity industry is the main user of total abstracted water, accounting for almost 77.0 per cent in 2021-22. 1.2.1.

Abstracted water by Water Source Surface water remains the main water source for abstracted water, accounting for almost 93.0 per cent or 126,663 ML of total water abstracted in 2021-22. Groundwater and rainwater accounts for the remaining 6.2 per cent or 8,466 ML and less than one percent or 1,263 ML respectively.

76.7 per cent or 104,570 ML of total abstraction was abstracted water by the electricity industry for hydropower and the vast majority of this water is returned back to the environment

20.9 per cent or 28,536 ML of water was abstracted by the water supply industry mainly for supplying industries and households. The remaining 2.4 per cent or 3,285 ML of water was abstracted water for own use by industries and households

Out of the 3,285 ML or 2.4 per cent of abstracted water for own use, the agriculture industry accounted for 54.1  per cent or 1,779 ML while households accounted for about 38.4  per cent or 1,263ML.

Manufacturing and Construction accounted for about 231 ML or 7.0  per cent. The remaining 12.5 ML or less than 1.0 per cent was abstracted water by other industries.

In 2021-22, abstracted water by households decreased by almost 25 per cent or 416 ML compared to 1,679 ML in 2020- 2021. The main contributing factor was the increased number of households connected to piped water hence lesser households depended on abstracted water from other sources such as rainwater.

Total water use in 2021-22 was estimated to be 152,590 ML. Electricity is the dominant user of water, accounting for 68.6 per cent or 104,611 ML of total water use, which is used for hydroelectricity generation. The water supply industry used about 18.7 per cent or 28,540 ML of water. Households used about 14,196 ML or about 9.3 per cent of total water use.

Of 28,536 ML of abstracted water by the Water Supply industry for distribution in 2021-22, about 55.4 per cent or 15,809 ML was supplied and used by industry and households. The remaining 44.6 per cent or 12,727 ML of the abstracted water for distribution was non-revenue water.

In 2021-22, households accounted for 81.8 per cent or 12,933 ML of total distributed water followed by all other Industries with 15.6 per cent or 2,474 ML. The remaining 3.0 per cent or 402 ML was used by the Manufacturing and Construction industry accounting for 1.2 per cent or 197 ML, the Agriculture industry with 1.0 per cent or 152 ML, the Electricity industry with 0.7 per cemt or 41 ML and the Water Supply and Sewerage industry with 0.1 per cent or 12 ML