Three new reservoirs and more than 10 kilometres of transmission pipelines have been commissioned in Honiara, expanding the capital's water storage capacity and strengthening supply for a growing urban population.
The facilities, commissioned on Nov. 3, were delivered under the Urban Water Supply and Sanitation Sector Project, a joint investment supported by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), World Bank, European Union, Global Environment Facility and Solomon Islands government.
The three reservoirs, located at Titinge, Tasahe and Panatina, add more than 8.5 million litres of storage capacity to the municipal water supply system operated by the Solomon Islands Water Authority (SIWA).
The infrastructure is expected to benefit more than 105,000 residents across Honiara and provide capacity to support a projected population of more than 300,000 by 2050.
ADB Country Director Anthony Gill said the commissioning demonstrated the value of partnerships in improving essential public services.
He said the investment would contribute to public health, economic growth, climate resilience and human development.
Minister for Mines, Energy and Rural Electrification Derrick Manu'ari said water security was not merely an infrastructure concern but a matter of national security, public health, economic resilience and social equity.
He said long-term water security would require integrated approaches to resource management, infrastructure planning, catchment protection, system efficiency and climate adaptation.
The project also involved installing more than 10 kilometres of transmission pipelines along key urban corridors, including Kongulai to White River, White River to Iron Bottom Sound, East Kola Ridge to Vura, and Panatina Reservoir to Burns Creek.
The new trunk mains are designed to ease network bottlenecks, improve water conveyance and provide more stable supplies to households and businesses.
The commissioning establishes a foundation for further investments to expand water network coverage, improve institutional performance and strengthen long-term water resilience across Solomon Islands.
