To Tatou Vai (TTV), the island’s water authority is progressing well with its water meter installation project for both residential homes commercial property. As of last week, just over 1200 meters have been installed – “a 50/50 split”.

The installation of water meters across the island are expected to be completed by June 2026.

To Tatou Vai chief executive Apii Timoti says there have been several challenges, but the biggest issue was locating people’s water pipes.

“It appeared that the installation of water pipes to people’s properties did not follow any standard as many are being tapped off their neighbours taps, in which case new water pipes have to be installed; and people do not know where their pipes are,” Timoti said.

“It is not uncommon that days are spent potholing in order to locate a single water pipe, and naturally property owners do get upset – while many are understanding, there are also some who are not so accommodating.”

Timoti said funding for the meters is also a problem as suppliers are not willing to supply on credit, and the funding shortage for road reinstatement is also a challenge. 

TTV has also noted that as their team nears the end of installing the island’s commercial meters, the rest of the team is moving on to install meters at non-residential domestic properties – places like schools, churches, sports clubs, public toilets, hostels, water stations, community halls and meeting houses.

These non-residential domestic properties have been identified to have higher consumption and “statistically speaking are more likely to have invisible leaks”.

To Tatou Vai has therefore prioritised metering these properties, hoping that, as with the commercial installations, the meters will identify any leaks requiring repair.

Meanwhile, earlier this month, the TTV Treatment Team training conducted inspections and maintenance of the valves at the Avana Water Treatment Plant.

TTV noted that the valves are an important water infrastructure asset and there are hundreds of them across the island’s water treatment plants and the network.

By opening and closing the valves the treatment team can control the flow, pressure and direction of the water.

According to TTV, Rarotonga’s water infrastructure requires immense manual operation. Unlike an automated system where the position of the valves can be remotely operated, TTV team must closely monitor and manually adjust the valves every time the conditions change. This happens daily, sometimes several times throughout the day.

User demands, pressure throughout the network and water levels at the intakes all impact how the treatment team handles the valves, TTV said.

The Treatment Team undergoes training on Thursdays to refresh their water treatment knowledge and to help ensure that they have a common understanding of the principles and fundamentals of valve maintenance and positioning.

– Melina Etches/TTV