WATER, SANITATION AND HYGIENE B.Altanzagas, MPH Air Quality Office, NAMHEMM

CONTENTS  Institutional framework and structure  Water resources and water consumption  Access to water supply and sanitation facilities and human rights  Operation of wastewater treatment plant  Health outcomes related to poor water supply, sanitation and hygiene  Overview of key problems and issues  Solving problems

Institutional framework and structure for Water & Sanitation management National Water committee MCUDMOFAMOHMOITMONE MOFAMOFEMOD OTHER AGENCIES: State Specialized Inspection Agency, National Agency for Meteorology, Hydrology and Environment Monitoring, Water Authority Agency, Water, Sewage and Usage Academy of Sciences, Local Government Offices,

Water resources and water consumption

“The human right to water”  declares the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, “entitles everyone to sufficient, safe, acceptable, physically accessible and affordable water for personal and domestic use”.  These five core attributes represent the foundations for water security.

Access to improved DW sources and sanitation facilities /percentage/, Mongolia DW&S Access /%/ Drinking water sources Central pipe Water distribution kiosk Drilled well, protected hand well Protected springs Sanitation facilities26.6 Sources, MCUD, 2005

Access to improved DW sources and sanitation facilities /percentage/, Mongolia By study of 2005:  28.2% - to improved sanitation  44.6% - to improved drinking water sources  Need to consider above data compared to the data in THE previous slide. CONFUSING Source: Zuunii medee, News paper,

 75% of soum hospitals and schools do not have safe and adequate water and sanitation facilities (WHO/MOH, 2005).  % of soum or town hospital and school have been connected to central water supply and sewage (MCUD, 2006).

Percentage of the households using improved drinking water sources and sanitation facilities Source: Household pilot survey, 2004, UNDP, UNICEF, WHO

Disparities in water use Apartment dwellers: litres/day/person Safe and readily available tap water Ger Dwellers:  8-10 litres/day/person  Unsafe water from rivers, springs and hand-dug wells  Women and children who are responsible for collecting water in the ger districts and they spend long hours queuing in freezing winter weather,  Pays 84 times higher than the industries and mining companies for 1000 liters of water used and they need to spend time and electricity on heating and boiling water. Source: 2003, National HDR

 15% of the 120 surveyed households use spring water  45% of them use both spring water and distribution points’ water. PHI, 2002 Access to spring water in Ulaanbaatar

Hygienic conditions and quality of spring water in Mongolia  78% of the studied (127) springs were observed not to have any protection or upgrading of their surrounding areas.  In most of the studied areas, percent of the spring water samples were evaluated as 4 th and 5 th degree of surface water cleanliness, which does not meet drinking water quality requirements Source: SPH, MOH, WHO, 2005

Percentage of contaminated springs by selected parameters by aimags and UB city 47.6% of all studied aimag’s spring water were significantly polluted (p<0.01) by more than three parameters especially E.coli, ammonia, oxygen demand, which indicated a recent contamination of human and animal excreta in water. Contaminated springs (%)

Operation of wastewater treatment plant Over 200 million cubic meters of wastewater is transported by public sewage in Mongolia per year, of which 60 percent is treated by the treatment facilities. 50 million cubic meters of untreated wastewater is dumped into the environment, polluting surface and ground water resources. Source: National Survey of Wastewater Treatment Plants, 2001

Diseases caused by low and high contents of minerals in drinking water  High prevalence of dental fluorosis among the residents of Dornogobi and Sukhbaatar aimags due to the high concentration of fluoride in groundwater for drinking use  High prevalence of iodine deficiency disorder among the people of Bulgan, Uvurkhangai, Khovd and Uvs aimags caused by a low content of iodine in groundwater for drinking use.

Arsenic contents in well water and health risks  10% of well water /1023/ has determined that contain arsenic higher than acceptable levels in Gobi-Sumber, Dornod, Gobi-Altai and Dornogobi aimags.  In these aimags, the initial symptoms of the chronic impact of arsenic were observed among the surveyed population. PHI, SPH, UNICEF, 2004

Mercury contents in river water and health risks  The mercury concentration in the water of Boroo river, near the gold mining was six times higher than the acceptable level.  24.5% of the surveyed informal gold have had symptoms of the chronic effects of mercury, namely high mercury concentrations in their blood and urine, and symptoms in the nervous system. PHI, 2004

Diarrheal diseases related to poor Water, Sanitation and Hygiene  Households without a pit latrine had more cases of diarrhea (65.2%) compared to households with a pit latrine (P< 0.05, OR=1.8).  Households with access to a water distribution point had 1.6 times fewer cases of diarrhea, compared to the households using spring water (P< 0.05, OR=1.6).  Households using raw water had more cases of diarrhea than those not using raw water (P< 0.05, OR=1.64)6. Source: PHI, MOH, 2004

Soil contamination and health risks caused by poor sanitation  59 percent of pit latrines and 54 percent of soak pits do not meet the hygienic requirements.  14 percent and 34 percent respectively of the total households did not have any pit latrine or soak pit.  Bacteriological contamination of soil has being increased by almost three fold during last 10 years.  MOH reports that soil contamination contributes to a percent increased risk of infectious diseases, such as diarrhea and Hepatitis A. Source, SSIA, 2003

Overview key problems and issues Lack of legal framework and institutional structure on water governance and sanitation sector. No consolidated national data base for water and sanitation provision. Disparities on access to improved water and sanitation provision in urban and rural areas, specially people living in ger area are worst sufferer in terms of disparities. Water and soil contamination are caused by inappropriate water and waste management.

Overview key problems and issues Poor health outcomes related to poor water supply, sanitation and hygiene practice are still main issues of Public Health. 86.7% Hepatitis A of total Hepatitis cases Lack of education and traditional customs on protection of water resources and appropriate use water and sanitation facilities and hygienic behaviour. Lack of public participation on sustainable use of water sources through workshop, awareness programme, introducing schoolchildren and communities on hygienic use of sanitation and water, involving people from deprived section like people living in ger area.

SOLVING PROBLEMS GOAL: Mongolia MDG Goal 1,3,7,8&9.  Increase the coverage of improved water sources to 70%, and improved sanitation services to 63.3% of the population by 2015.

SOLVING PROBLEMS SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES: Strengthen the institutional structure and legal framework on water governance and sanitation service. Build a consolidated national database on access to improved drinking water sources and sanitation facilities. Increase knowledge, skills and practice of population on water, sanitation and hygiene. Improve laboratory capacity on drinking water and wastewater analysis, especially in rural areas. Support construction of safe water supplies and adequate sanitation facilities Enhance community ownership of water sources and improve capacity to maintain/manage them in a sustainable manner

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