What are the main issues facing the protection of freshwater quality in Tuvalu?
One of the main problems facing Funafuti is a lack of adequate storage facilities for freshwater. Current toilet systems require a lot of water and most households depend on government-distributed freshwater, even though the annual average rainfall in Funafuti is high as 35,000 millilitres. The Government is now looking at the possibility of collecting second grade water from the airstrip and supplying it to households for toilet use. Most of the septic systems on Funafuti need to be replaced. Some of these systems date back to the late 1970s and most of these systems were built without proper construction advice. Now they are they either leaking or have no base or soak pits and they are contributing to the contamination of our groundwater and lagoon. In low-lying areas with high groundwater table, the groundwater can interfere with the processes of septic systems, because it can enter the tanks or cause problems with the soak pits. In areas with high groundwater table water from septi
