Foreign Minister Winston Peters has paid a recent visit to the tiny islands of Kiribati as part of his Pacific reset tour.

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His trip coming just a week after the low-lying atoll was inundated by king tides which strike every year.

Locals noticed a significant change last week though, with exceptionally high swells reaching nearly three meters, which happens to be the highest point on the island of Tarawa.

Most wells on are now salt water and the islands water reservoir is no longer safe to drink.

Part of the solution is this New Zealand funded $1.1 million-dollar desalination project, which turns sea water into normal water, a luxury considered liquid gold for Kiribati.

"When you look at water... and how critical it is, this is a seriously high pay-back low-investment operation." Winston Peters told 1 NEWS.

Ruateki Tekaiara, Minister of Infrastructure and Sustainable Energy says, "it’s very important because water is life and because we are in drought season now and need water."

The plant alone is set to pump half a million litres of water into the mains per day, about a quarter of what the island needs.

There are more plans to build along the coastline of South Tarawa, home to 56,000 people.