We believe that Fiji is home to the best water on the planet. Unfortunately, many people in rural areas of Fiji do not have a reliable source of clean drinking water and lack adequate sanitation. In many cases, the issue is water access rather than water availability, since Fiji is an aquifer-rich country and much of its clean water supply lies underneath the surface. Through our company’s resources and those of the FIJI Water Foundation, we have set out to change this. In the last couple of years alone, we have helped to build reliable access to safe drinking water in over a hundred Fijian villages, with another hundred new projects already planned and funded for 2010 and beyond.

FIJI Water has taken direct responsibility for water access in the villages that surround our source in the Yaqara Valley, working with local residents to build wells that yield a high-quality and consistent water supply. In addition, the FIJI Water Foundation is a key partner in the Rotary Pacific Water for Life Trust, which builds sustainable water infrastructure in communities across Fiji that have the greatest need for such projects. The FIJI Water Foundation has also provided water tanks, bores, piping, and staff expertise directly to numerous schools and communities throughout Fiji. And in our effort to reach more and more communities every year, we are partnering with other organizations such as Give Clean Water whose volunteers install water filters at many Fijian villages, turning available surface water from rivers and creeks into a safe drinking water source.

As a result, after just two years, we have supported the development of essential infrastructure that has brought clean water to almost 40,000 people, or nearly 5% of Fiji’s population and growing. In a country where as many as half of its residents lack reliable access to safe drinking water , we are striving to make a real difference.

In addition to building water infrastructure, we are protecting Fiji’s water sources for future generations through our conservation and reforestation projects, in partnership with Conservation International (www.conservation.org). Simply put, forests protect watersheds, by making the soil better able to absorb rainfall and – with taller trees – intercepting cloud moisture. The Sovi Basin conservation project will protect watersheds in the most populated region of Fiji, while the Yaqara Valley reforestation project will protect the watershed in the neighborhood of FIJI Water’s own source.