Don’t throw household waste in lavatories, drains and sinks as it will cause wastewater system overflow – WAF

People are being urged to be responsible and refrain from throwing household waste down lavatories, drains and sinks as such items will lead to dangerous and unhygienic overflows of the wastewater system.

This is after the Department of Environment reported an incident to the Water Authority of Fiji that one of their wastewater manholes was overflowing.

Permanent Secretary for Environment, Joshua Wycliffe says WAF is collaborating with the Ministry of Environment in raising awareness on the environmental impact of wastewater discharges and overflows and their harmful effects on the environment and human health.

WAF Chief Executive Officer Dr Amit Chanan says an investigation into the recent wastewater overflow at the Lautoka City Council Car Park area revealed that the wastewater channel was blocked because of old rags, towels, plastic bags, bottles and a handbag causing the blockage which resulted in the overflows.

He says not only are these problems expensive to fix, but they also cause issues like raw sewerage overflows into homes, businesses as well as waterways and when this happens it harms the environment.

Dr Chanan says they will conduct awareness sessions targeted at both residential and commercial customers to address the reoccurring issue.