A kindergarten in Tiapapata continues to struggle with dirty water supply and has urged the government to provide filters.

For more than 20 years, Tiapapata’s piped water supply has been dirty prompting residents to spend money on buying drinking water. This according to residents is a health hazard that they have had to deal with for two decades now.

The Brilliant Star Montessori School has been using tanks to collect rainwater.

"We shut off the meter and now just use rainwater because I really don't want additional water to have dirt on it. This problem definitely has to cease," said the principal.

“We even add extra tanks so that we can rely entirely on rainwater, which we subsequently boil and give to the students.

"It's also past time for the government to take action and provide water filters that citizens can use. Even though we seldom use the metered water, we still pay our bills."

In the recent months, there has been very little to no rain. The school also close off the tanks during heavy rain as this also gets dirt into the tank.

The school uses rainwater for amenities, hand washing, and toilet usage.

"We have been trying to persuade the Samoa Water Authority to take action but they have not. We made the decision to rely solely on rainfall until the government takes action," she added.

“As for drinking water, we ask the water department to provide us water since we can’t drink the water here because it’s polluted.”

Tiapapata resident Tu'ugalua Tu'u'u said they have written letters to the SWA requesting action.

"As you can see, much of the dirt spills out of my water pipes when I turn them on,” he said.

"Every morning when I get up, I boil some water so that I may go perform my duties and have some water to drink later.

"Since water is essential to our survival, the problem impacts all of us, but notably on our village.

"Boiling water has been difficult. There are moments when I am really thirsty but I forget to boil the water. Also, boiling water requires us to wait until it cools down.

“In order to boil water for drinking and cooking, I need to fill gallons or tanks with it.”

The inhabitants of Tiapapata want the government and the Samoa Water Authority to take action urgently.

The residents claimed that the unsanitary water supply could also lead to diseases. The community is in decent shape, but the water is tainted.

SWA has earlier stated that work is being done to improve the quality of water supplied to residents of Tiapapata.