Water quality issues identified during the second assessment in the northwest Islands of Chuuk

The team spend two days on each island carrying out the assessment, community meetings and water quality testing activities. The team held community meetings with the leaders and community members on each island to share project progress and confirm selection of buildings for the installation of the water systems on the islands. The meetings culminated with the selection of two buildings per island and the details are summarized below:

The team conducted basic water quality (microbial/chemical) testings on households, schools and communal water storage systems using basic field test kits. In general, the testings found that drinking water sourced from rainwater tanks are unsafe and the communities were advised to boil their water before drinking and to regularly clean and maintain their water tanks. A training on the use of the test kits including the analysis of results was conducted on each island whereby a total of 15 community members were trained.

The communities of Polowat, Pulusuk and Pullap have been very welcoming and supportive of the GCCA+SUPA Project and are delighted to receive support in improving water access. The project will install a total of 26 rainwater tanks across the three islands in early 2022 and will partner closely with the communities throughout the process to build a sense of community ownership on the islands.

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