Te Mato Vai is the biggest infrastructure project in Cook Islands' history, but the joint New Zealand-Chinese project to replace the nation’s aging water network has been hit with soaring costs and questionable work.
Ioana Turia relies on UV-treated water stations around Rarotonga.
“Clean safe drinking water's good for our family, especially the little ones,” she said.
The water network needs replacing, and Te Mato Vai, started ten years ago, was hailed as the answer.
But it hasn’t been easy.
New Zealand’s given a $15 million grant for the project.
China has provided a low-interest loan of around $21 million and its civil engineering and construction company has been responsible for laying the pipes.
But after the Chinese government-owned company laid 55km of pipe, a leak prompted an independent review, which found another 17km was problematic.
These pipes had to be dug up and re-laid.
The company denied the pipeline was faulty, the Cook Islands government threatened legal action.
But today it appears that's off the table, after news that both parties have dropped the matter.
The main network is now successfully operating but there's debate around how the water will be treated, and the cost, which has blown out to $90 million.
And Cook Island Chamber of Commerce President Rebecca Tavioni says the figure keeps growing.
“What's concerning is the rate in which that amount changes, it’s not that overall that amount is too large, it's just that it keeps moving,” she said.
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