Kiwi team restores water supply to tsunami victims

Ross Copeland. Photo / Supplied

Water is flowing again in parts of tsunami-devastated Samoa, thanks to a small team of Kiwis backed by the generosity of New Zealand companies.

The group, part of the Engineers Without Borders New Zealand aid organisation, spent about two weeks restoring the main pipeline that runs through much of the southwest coast of Samoa's main island, Upolu.

Chief executive Ross Copeland said 90 per cent of the pipe was badly damaged and leaking, resulting in large amounts of water wastage.

The pipe is owned and operated by the Samoa Water Authority.

Some villagers and resort owners in the area had their own water schemes using pipes from local lakes or streams.

Mr Copeland, a civil engineer for Mainzeal Property and Construction in Auckland, and two plumbers, Sean Walker and Troy Rayner, patched the leaks and reconnected the pipes to affected houses or blocked off the connections of houses that had been washed away in the tsunami.

"The pipeline was smashed, cracked and leaking and everywhere there was debris, rotting fish, dead animals and often sewage. One of our team got an electric shock from a roof made live by a stray wire."

Water was restored to about 30 houses and six schools.

About $150,000 worth of pipes, faucets, valves, other fittings and cement were donated by Marley NZ and Hynds Ltd for the trio's mission.

A generator was also donated by the Greenlane Presbyterian Church, which has been passed on to Habitat for Humanity.

The charity is starting a programme to build four houses a day over the next six months with the aim of housing 450 families.