Adagege water supply for the island
Wide Bay Water Corporation (WBWC) had for some time considered utilising the resources and skills to assist a community in need as an aid project.
Responding to a request for assistance from the Solomon Islands, a task force visited Adagege Island in early January 2006. They investigated a solution for water supply to the island. The man made island of Adagege was established over 200 years ago and presently houses ten families, most of which have been on the island throughout its history.
There is no water supply available at the island so each family is required to undertake a canoe trip to the ‘mainland’ on a daily basis to obtain water for drinking and cooking. This trip entails a 350m paddle followed by a 450m walk over a formed path to a spring referred to as Cvalia. The spring has provided a continuous water supply for the islands residents with no record of it ever drying up.
The spring water is used for drinking, cooking, bathing and washing clothes, although the latter two are undertaken on the mainland and not as a result of water carted to the island. Water production from the spring was not able to be determined, but estimated to flow between 10 and 15 m3/ hour. WBWC was requested to investigate a solution to provide water direct to the island and alleviate the need for the islands residents to transport water in canoes on a daily basis.
Just think about how often you and your family use water every day - from having a wash, brushing your teeth, cooking and preparing food, or even to drink.
In Adagege women and children were transporting water from the mainland in canoes several times every day, to do these very same tasks.
They asked for our help, to turn on the tap...
WBWC partnered with Rotary Club of Hervey Bay Sunrise to help get the project off the ground.
WBWC donated the technical skills and staff to build the system, while Rotary were responsible for the fundraising administration and coordinating the transport of the equipment to the island.
The Rotary Club of Honiara were involved in purchasing and training the residents in care and maintenance, as well as responsible water use. It was a unique project, the first of its kind for Hervey Bay.
Together WBWC and Rotary had to raise $50,000 to build the tap for the island to give these kids back their childhood, and build a tap on Adagege.
The project
WBWC installed a simple water system to pump water from the spring to the island.
- Construct a 1.0m diameter well within the impounded area downstream of the Cvalia spring.
- Install a Lorentz (or similar) solar powered submersible pump within the well – fl ow rate between 500 and 1,000 litres per hour
- Construct an elevated tank platform on the high ground adjacent to the Cvalia spring – height of 15m above the spring
- Install a 5,000 litre HDPE tank on the platform along with solar panels, batteries, regulator and pump controls
- Lay a 40mm OD HDPE pressure pipeline from the pump to the tank and a 63mm OD HDPE pipeline from the tank to the island. Land section to be buried with water section anchored to the seabed with concrete anchors.
- Construct a single hose tap connection at the island and a single shower stand complete with concrete pads.
- Train island residents in maintenance of the system and use of limited supply of water.
My role for the project
My role included marketing, communication and promotions. I built a website for the Hervey Bay community to follow the progress of the fundraising and subsequent project roll out.
I designed a range of merchandise including calendars, t-shirts and hats to help reach our $50,000 target and to build community support for the Adagege project in the Solomon Islands.
I also assisted the engineering team with diagrams and collateral to help educate the Solomon Islanders operate and maintain the new tap.
The project was completed January 2008.
