Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — Residents of Vaifanua District have been faced with the problem of not being able to drink the water supplied by ASPA for more than 30 years.

This was revealed by Vaifanua Senator Satele Aliitai Lili’o during a hearing of the Senate ASPA Power & Water Committee yesterday morning.

Testifying were ASPA Acting CEO Ryan Tuato’o and Power Generation Superintendent Junior Sisifo Lauvao.

Senator Satele told the witnesses that he had brought the matter to ASPA CEO Wallon Young’s attention when he had appeared before the Senate during the Budget hearings late last year.

Satele recounted that according to Young, Vaifanua residents should be able to drink the water supplied by ASPA by December after the water pumps and filters installed at the well drilled in Aua were operational.

However, that had not eventuated.

He pointed out that there are water pumps and filters at the other well drilled in Alao, but after a week or two, they malfunctioned.

As a result, Vaifanua residents buy their drinking water from the various bottled water suppliers on island, a practice they have been doing for the past 30 years up to now because the water they are getting is not fit for human consumption.

“But providing drinking water for the public is one of ASPA’s main responsibilities,” Senator Satele emphasized. “As we all know, water is life. It is one of life’s necessities and it should be on top of ASPA’s priority list. I need to know exactly where we stand in this matter because the date your CEO said we could drink our water has come and gone and we still can’t.”

He stated that the same problem had existed in the village of Aoa but the problem had been rectified.

But for people residing in the other villages of Vaifanua County namely Auasi, Utumea, Alao and Tula get their water from the designated water pump stations which they use for purposes other than drinking or cooking because the quality is unreliable.

Acting CEO Ryan Tuato’o explained that they ran into some problems with certain fittings of the filters installed at the well in Aua so that it could filter the (water) feed into water lines.

He said engineers from the company they had purchased the filters from in the mainland had been on island to do the installation, but found that they didn’t have the right fittings to connect the filters to the water lines.

The ASPA Acting CEO stated that the management of their Water Division has been corresponding with the company in the mainland and they have informed us that their engineers will be coming back either at the end of this month or early next month, too complete the installation.

Tuato’o pointed out that the filtering component of the wells in Aua and Alao are important to filter the water from the drilled wells, because from these wells the water has a high salinity percentage.

He explained that saltwater intrusion exists in the water found in the southern part of the island which includes the villages on the east coast.

However, the water found in the northern part of the island in Masefau, Afono and Vatia villages has a better quality and is good for consumption.

He stated that he is optimistic that the installation should be completed by March.

Senator Satele expressed his hope that the problem would be solved once and for all so that his constituents would have drinking water for their daily needs.

Satele reiterated that the water ASPA is supplying to his county is not only unfit for human consumption, but it is also damaging his constituents’ properties.

“It takes only a short time for our kitchen sinks to rust from the high salinity water, so we can’t even use it to clean our cars!” the Vaifanua senator pointed out. “It is even damaging the toilet bowls! Remember, it’s been more than 30 years now, but we are still paying our water bills.

“Please do something about it.”

He then presented the ASPA top officials with a bottle each of water from Vaifanua county to remind them of his county’s predicament.

“I want you to taste the water from Vaifanua County to remind you of we have been going through for the 30 years,” Senator Satele concluded.