BY JENNIFER KUSAPA
WATER turbidity and shut-downs from the Kongulai source will become a thing of the past when work on a $130 million water treatment plant designed to address the issue is completed next year.
Solomon Water yesterday announced India-based firm REAN PCS Joint Venture has been awarded the contract to build the plant.
“This will be the largest and most complex project ever built by Solomon Water and we are thrilled to finally award a contract for it,” Solomon Water CEO Ian Gooden said.
“When completed, the project will significantly improve the continuity and quality of our water supply to Honiara residents and businesses without interruption,” he added.
Gooden said Solomon Water received five bids for the project.
“Construction should start around June and will run for 14 months and then the contractor will operate and maintain the plant for a further 12 months,” the CEO explains.
Rean Watertech, Solomon Water says, is a water company specialising in delivering water and wastewater projects.
P.C. Snehal Construction Pvt. Ltd is an engineering and infrastructure company with over 40 years of experience. Both companies are based in India.
Funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and World Bank (WB), the joint venture will construct a water treatment plant up at Kongulai pumping station with a capacity to treat 15 megalitres (million litres) of water per day through the use of clarifiers and filtration.
Associated works include raw and treated water pump stations, pipe bridges, sludge ponds and site civil works and a new rising main up to the Tasahae reservoirs.
The joint venture will also train Solomon Water staff to operate and maintain the water treatment plant for a period of at least 12 months.
Kongulai water source supplies water to about 60 per cent of Honiara’s residents.
But because it’s an open source, when there’s heavy rain, the source becomes muddy, forcing Solomon Water with no option but to shut the source off.
This normally irks the public, attracting criticisms and unwanted commentaries against Solomon Water.
