The quality of Tonga's water supplies will come into focus on Monday, next week, when stakeholders come together for a workshop to look at the Tonga Water Board’s Water Safety Planning process.

At a second workshop, on Wednesday 15 November, the Ministry of Health and ADB, will present findings from a recent pilot study on Village Water Supply systems in Tongatapu and their management.

The Ministry of Health and Tonga Water Board, in partnership with the Asian Development Bank, are organising both workshops.

The workshops will be held at Tanoa Hotel with representatives from government, non-government, civil society and utility organizations in attendance to enhance cross-sectoral coordination for water and sanitation management, stated the ADB technical assistance WASH project.

Ministry of Health CEO Dr Reynold ‘Ofanoa will open the Water Safety Plan workshop, followed by updates from Tonga Water Board CEO, Sione Finau.

The workshop will present the water safety planning process underway for the Nuku’alofa water supply network, and identify opportunities for cross-sectoral collaboration to reduce risks in TWB’s water supply operations. The Water Safety Planning process assesses water quality and quantity risks, and will result in a Quality Risk Assessment for the Nuku’alofa Water Supply System.

The second workshop, hosted by the Ministry of Health and ADB, will present findings from a recent pilot study on Village Water Supply systems in Tongatapu. Fo’ui, Te’ekiu and Fatumu villages. The study included mapping of community water assets, water quality testing and governance assessment. Presentation of the findings will also touch on water resource management, and the establishment of a baseline for drinking water safety in each village.

The organisers said that the workshop will provide an opportunity for Town Officers and key stakeholders to come together to assess the key issues and concerns related to village water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) service delivery and identify better governance and coordination mechanisms in support of the Village Water Committees.

The study, undertaken by the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, Tonga Water Board and Asian Development Bank, provides a full picture of drinking water supply and water safety in the pilot villages.

The Workshops are an initiative of the Tonga Government and TWB. The activities are supported by ADB’s regional Technical Assistance project (TA 6551), Strengthening WASH Practices and Hygiene Behavioral Change in the Pacific which aims to strengthen the capacity of Pacific island countries to prevent disease transmission through enhanced WASH practices and enabling environment.