SBR- Content.pmd - INBO

12 - Domestic water and sanitationDomestic water 12and sanitationIf volume were the only consideration, use of the Mekong Basin’s water for domestic purposes andsanitation would be of small importance. Its demands represent no more than 5 or 6 percent 1 of allground and surface water used for any purpose in the basin, and water used for all purposes is only10 percent of the water flowing from the river’s mouth (Table 1). 2Table 1Freshwater withdrawal for domestic use and sanitationCountry and yearDomestic use sector% of total water usageCambodia (1987) 5Lao PDR (1987) 8Thailand (1990) 5Viet Nam (1990/1992) 4Note: Data are for the whole countrySources: World Resources Institute 2000; Gleick 2000From other perspectives, however, domestic water and sanitation are of very high importance indeed.First, water quality and hygiene have a significant impact on human health and productivity. Second,access to domestic water, to sufficient quantities of it and tosupplies that are reliable year-round, need to be assured to meeteveryday basic human needs.Domestic water and sanitation are clearly essentials for the healthand productivity of all 55 million people living in the LowerMekong Basin. But as Figure 1 indicates, a very high proportionof people in the basin lack adequate access to safe water andsanitation. This is particularly so in Cambodia, Lao PDR and VietNam, which all have largely rural, relatively dispersed populationsin their areas of the basin. And water for domestic use is not alwaysevenly distributed geographically, seasonally or equitably – factorswhich in turn can have severe impacts on development in general,and on poverty reduction in particular.In rural areas, women andchildren often walk long distancesto obtain drinking waterIn rural areas, the poor are the most vulnerable to inadequatesupplies of domestic water. It is their children who are the mostlikely to contract water-and-sanitation related diseases, especially243