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

Engineers Without Borders New Zealand says local firms donated about $150,000 worth of product to help restore and rebuild water supply lines along the coast decimated by the tsunami.

EWBNZ National CEO Ross Copland says his employer Mainzeal Property and Construction sponsored the team while DL Good Plumbing Ltd of Auckland supplied two plumbers Sean Walker and Troy Rayner. Hynds Pipe Systems sent $56,000 worth of fittings and valves aboard the HMNZS Canterbury while Marley New Zealand supplied more than $90,000 in pipe line.

Ross Copland who’s just returned from the disaster zone says the team was able to restore water to about 30 homes and a dozen schools, patching and repairing the main water reticulation pipe line. He says the conditions were challenging. "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".

But Ross says the real challenge will be building a new water reticulation system for the 4000 people who’ve abandoned their coastal villages to move inland. With the help of the New Zealand Defence Force, Ross was able to fly over the islands scouting and testing new water sources and he’ll be heading back to Samoa in January to help design a new water scheme which will use the donated kiwi supplies.

He says Samoan’s have been overwhelmed by New Zealand’s generosity and he praised the practical aid offered not only by companies like Hynds and Marley but also small groups such as the Greenlane Presbyterian Church which donated his team a generator to use.

That generator has now been passed on to Habitat for Humanity which is starting a massive building programme to erect four houses a day over the next six months aiming to build a total of 450 homes. Ross says currently water tankers are supplying many of those who’ve fled the coast but with the cyclone season fast approaching many are still in a desperate situation.