Asia: reducing lost water could bring water to millions

Millions of people in Asia and the Pacific could have access to clean water if leaks were plugged and water utility reforms adopted, says a new study by the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

“By cutting the amount of lost water in half, 150 million people could be supplied with treated water”, said ADB’s Vice President for Knowledge Management and Sustainable Development Bindu Lohani.
ADB estimates that 29 billion cubic meters of water is lost each year in the region, causing Asia’s water utilities to lose more than US$ 9 billion in revenue each year.

The ADB study, which showcases eight of the best-performing water utilities [2] in Asia, shows that current unaccounted for water (UFW) levels in the region of up to 60%, can be brought down to less than 20%. Phnom Penh even managed to lower its UFW level to just 6% in 2008.

Good Practices: The Success Framework for Urban Water Utilities. Source: ADB publication “Good Practices in Urban Water Management”

The study developed a Good Practices Success Framework (see figure above) with seven key elements that urban water utilities need to address. Regarding one of these elements, empowering the poor, the study notes that each of the eight water agencies studied provided some kind of subsidy for obtaining a water connection and, in deserving cases, for the use of water as well.

[1] Chiplunkar, A., Seetharam Kallidaikurichi and Tan Cheon Kheong (eds), 2012. Good practices in urban water management : decoding good practices for a successful future. Mandaluyong City, Philippines: Asian Development Bank. xx, 206 p. Available at: < http://www.adb.org/publications/good-practices-urban-water-management>

[2] Bangkok, Thailand; Colombo, Sri Lanka; Jamshedpur, India; Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Manila, Philippines; Phnom Penh, Cambodia; Shenzhen, People’s Republic of China; and Singapore.

Related news: Higher water tariffs are associated with lower water loss, E-Source, 06 Dec 2011

Related web site: World Bank – Urban Water

Source: ADB, 03 Jul 2012

Asia: accelerated and sustainable progress in sanitation and hygiene is within our reach, hygiene experts say

Accelerated and sustainable progress in sanitation and hygiene is within reach in Asia, as long as we aim at district-wide coverage and build a broad alliance under leadership of local governments. This is the main conclusion of sanitation and hygiene experts from five countries (Nepal, Bhutan, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia) participating in a workshop for governance on water, sanitation and hygiene organized by the Nepal government together with SNV Netherlands Development Organisation and the IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre from 13 to 17 September 2011.

Regional sharing and learning from experiences is an important aspect of the Sustainable Sanitation and Hygiene for All programme being implemented in 17 districts across Nepal, Bhutan, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia, implemented by local government partners and assisted by SNV and IRC since 2008. Last year, this programme was intensified with co-funding from the AusAID Civil Society WASH Fund and recently with support from DFID in Vietnam. The aim is to contribute to giving two million rural people access to improved hygiene and sanitation facilities by the end of 2015.

Cambodia: ADB plans US$ 27 million loan for rural water and sanitation

As part of the new Country Partnership Strategy (CPS) for 2011-2013 for Cambodia, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) is planning a US$ 27 million loan and a US$ 800,000 technical assistance grant for the Rural Water Supply and Sanitation III project.

Source: ADB Country Operations Business Plan : Cambodia 2011–2013. June 2011. Download full plan ; ADB, Cambodia Announce $500 Million Three-Year Partnership Strategy, ADB, 07 Jul 2011

Cambodia: Floating Toilets for Floating Villages

Mr. Sahari Ani, the CEO of Lien Aid, a Singapore-based nongovernment organization, was interviewed by the Asian Development Bank in their “Water Champion” series. Mr Ani spoke about his organisation’s work in Cambodia, in particular on the floating toilets of the “River of life” project (see also an earlier blog post on this project). “With this, we hope to provide better sanitation options for the floating communities on the Tonle Sap. We’ve already heightened the communities’ awareness on proper sanitation. This month, we will introduce different toilet designs that they can build on their houseboats. Simultaneously, we’re providing them with a safer choice for drinking water by building a floating water treatment plant” Mr. Ani said. “We are exploring several options including the use of especially adapted septic tanks plus ecological sanitation using the urine diversion-dissecting (UDD) toilet”.

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Cambodia: comedian takes rural sanitation to the Kingdom’s TVs

Comedian Chab Chean. Photo: PHOTO SUPPLIED

TV personality Chab Chean has been chosen as the government’s spokesperson in a push to promote sanitation throughout the countryside.

The government is hoping a little toilet humour will go a long ways in bringing its pro-sanitation message to the countryside, where millions live without access to running water and the nearest rice field often passes for the bathroom.

Only about 16 percent of rural Cambodians have access to toilets, according to the World Bank-sponsored Water and Sanitation Program. In some parts of the country, that figure can drop below five percent.

[...] “Many people in the countryside come around when they see Chab Chean educating them about the program, which is different from being told by local authorities,” [Chea Samnang, director of the Department of Rural Health at the Ministry of Rural Development] said. “As a local TV comedian and presenter, Chab Chean has been considered an excellent model in encouraging Cambodian people to cooperate with local authorities so that they know how to live in a clean environment and how to use toilets”.

“We have many methods of encouraging people in the countryside to help spread knowledge about rural sanitation. We show them through our jokes so that they are interested and happy, and they will never get bored,” Chab Chean said.

Source: Khoun Leakhana, Phnom Penh Post, 23 Dec 2008

Cambodia: Singaporean group introduces “floating” toilets

In rural Cambodia, only 16 per cent of residents have a proper toilet — the lowest rate in Southeast Asia.

Floating house with outside toilet. Photo: Channelnews.com

[...] On Cambodia’s great lake, Tonle Sap [...] homes are floating platforms and must move seasonally, and outhouses are simply a wooden plank over the open water. People have no choice but to contaminate the very same water they use for drinking and washing.

[The "River of Life" project launched by Singaporean NGO Lien Aid and the Lien Institute For the Environment (LIFE)], aims to make a difference in this community of about 10,000 people [by] introducing the concept of “floating” toilets which are affordable, locally-made, and therefore sustainable.

“It is actually a simple system… We’re going to use locally available buckets where they can collect the faeces. We are going to use some locally available agent to dry the faeces, that is, using ashes and other local material,” said the CEO of Lien Aid, Sahari Ani.

One key to the project is that locals will have to source and build their own toilets, to ensure that all parts of the community are involved.

“The toilet that we introduce to the community — they are very happy to get that one and they try to find their own resources to contribute to the project,” said the director of the Department of Rural Health Care, Ministry of Rural Development, Chea Samnang.

Lien Aid was set up in 2006 to address the water and sanitation crisis in developing countries around Asia. A Singapore based non-governmental organisation, it was established as an independent entity through the Lien Foundation – Nanyang Technological University Environmental Endeavour.

Source: Anasuya Sanyal, Channelnewsaia.com, 13 Dec 2008 ; Lien Aid

ASEAN: Dialogue on “Education on Water and Sanitation Issues”

On 2-3 October [2008], the Fifth Dialogue on Environmental Education, Japan’s prime mover project within the framework of the Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD), was held in Otsu, Japan, on the theme “Education on Water and Sanitation Issues.” Co-organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, Shiga Prefecture, and United Nations Environment Programme/International Environment Technology Centre (UNEP/IETC), the dialogue took place in two parts. On the first day, there were site visits to the relevant facilities and institutions in Shiga Prefecture; on the second, there was a workshop, which attracted some 60 attendees, including 32 participants from 17 ACD countries and one international organization.

[There were country presentations from Japan, China, Cambodia, Tajikistan, Korea, Singapore and Bangladesh].

At the conclusion of the workshop, the Chair, Ms. Kikuko Kato, Principal Deputy Director of the Global Environment Division, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, summarized the discussion as follows:

The participants

• recognized that it was important to share experiences, good practices, and know-how in education relating to water and sanitation;
• also recognized that, for the purpose of effective environmental education on water and sanitation issues, it was essential to have education that gave due consideration to local needs, and to have a “participatory approach” involving all stakeholders;
• shared the view that there was a need for a national programme on water and sanitation education;
• also shared the view that necessary financial resources should be provided;
• recognized that there was a need not only for financial resources but also for facilitators or teachers who promoted environmental education on water and sanitation in an appropriate manner;
• also recognized that there was a need for training for those facilitators as well as cooperation among relevant educational institutions;
• acknowledged that public-private partnerships were needed for there to be effective environmental education on water and sanitation;
• recognized that media could be utilized for effective public information services;
• shared the view that environmental education should be integrated into basic or regular education programmes;
• shared the view that non-school education facilities such as museums and learning-centres were also useful in providing the public with relevant information in water and sanitation sector as well as environment; and
• also shared the view that environmental education should be provided not only to school children, but also to adults and senior generations.

Source:  Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, Oct 2008

East Asia: ADB to Help Lay Groundwork for Mekong Water, Sanitation Project

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is laying the groundwork for a water and sanitation project that will help improve the health and lives of about 200,000 people living in nine towns in Cambodia, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, and Viet Nam.

[...]

A $1.5 million technical assistance is being extended to pave the way for the Mekong Water Supply and Sanitation Project.

The Japan Special Fund, through ADB, will provide $400,000; ADB’s Regional Cooperation and Integration Fund will extend a $500,000 grant; and an additional $300,000 grant will come from the Dutch government via the Water Financing Partnership Facility, administered by ADB. The three GMS governments involved in the project will contribute the equivalent of $300,000.

The towns identified for the planned project have high poverty levels and poor, or even non-existent, water supply and sanitation services. With improved infrastructure, they have the potential to develop into transport and tourism hubs.

The technical assistance will be used to determine the services needed for each town, the appropriate level of user charges, and the financial and technical capacity of participating public utilities and local governments, in order to design a project that is both realistic and sustainable.

At present, many local governments are unable to provide potable water and sanitation services 24 hours a day because of the high investment costs involved. At the same time, consumers face high tariffs that many cannot afford, or are unwilling to pay, making the rollout of new services financially unsustainable.

Major emphasis will also be given to improving sanitation services as few local governments in developing towns consider it a priority. Sanitation plans will be drawn up for each town, identifying cost-effective technologies, investment requirements, implementation and operating needs, and other actions needed to improve sanitation and promote hygiene.

[...]

The preparatory work for the project will run for seven months.

Source: ADB, 15 Oct 2008

Cambodia, Phnom Penh – first Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) day celebrated

ABOUT 1,000 villagers and primary school students in Russey Keo district’s Tuol Sangke commune attended a ceremony Wednesday [03 September 2008] celebrating Phnom Penh’s first Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) day.

WASH day emphasised the importance of washing hands in order to prevent the spread of disease.

Mann Chhoeun, deputy governor of Phnom Penh, and Katherine Crawford, director of USAID‘s office of Public Health and Education, led the morning ceremony by engaging in a hand-washing display, before about 20 school children who joined in, eager to scrub their palms.

Read more: Phnom Penh Post, 04 Sep 2008

Southeast Asia: predicting groundwater arsenic contamination from surface parameters

Winkel, L. … [et al.] (2008). Predicting groundwater arsenic contamination in Southeast Asia from surface parameters. Nature geoscience ; vol. 1 : p. 536-542
DOI: 10.1038/ngeo254 [full text free of charge]
Published online: 11 July 2008

Abstract

Arsenic contamination of groundwater resources threatens the health of millions of people worldwide, particularly in the densely populated river deltas of Southeast Asia [Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and Sumatra (Indonesia)]. Although many arsenic-affected areas have been identified in recent years, a systematic evaluation of vulnerable areas remains to be carried out. Here we present maps pinpointing areas at risk of groundwater arsenic concentrations exceeding 10 mug l-1. These maps were produced by combining geological and surface soil parameters in a logistic regression model, calibrated with 1,756 aggregated and geo-referenced groundwater data points from the Bengal, Red River and Mekong deltas. We show that Holocene deltaic and organic-rich surface sediments are key indicators for arsenic risk areas and that the combination of surface parameters is a successful approach to predict groundwater arsenic contamination. Predictions are in good agreement with the known spatial distribution of arsenic contamination, and further indicate elevated risks in Sumatra and Myanmar, where no groundwater studies exist.

See also the news item:

Southeast Asia At High Risk For Arsenic Contamination In Water. Science Daily. 14 Jul 2008. Retrieved August 15, 2008.