SBR- Content.pmd - INBO

12 - Domestic water and sanitationInformation is lacking on technologies being introduced, and those which have potential for use inthe future. One example, (well illustrating the underlying concepts of integrated water resourcesmanagement), is the use of wetlands for waste treatment as part of a hygiene/food production/wastemanagement strategy. A second example is the composting of human and animal wastes to producebiogas for cooking and fertiliser. This has been successfully introduced for little cost in Viet Nam atthe family farm level. 25Better and more comparable data on all of these aspects would facilitate step-by-step improvements inwater and sanitation facilities, based on user preferences, cost-effectiveness, and willingness to pay.4.5 Data on use and projected useAt the country level, estimates from 2001 indicated that for Cambodia, total annual water use fordomestic purposes and sanitation was 136 million m 3 (versus 100 million m 3 for livestock use and750 million m 3 overall). This is a significantly higher percentage than estimates in 1987. Urbanwater use (only 16 percent of the population in 2000) used approximately 51 million m 3 of this. InLao PDR, total annual water production capacity in 1999 (again only for the 23 percent of thepopulation living in urban areas in 2000) was approximately 60 million m 3 . In Northeast Thailand,urban domestic water use was estimated at 130 million m 3 in 1990 and projected to triple to 390million m 3 by 2000. In Viet Nam, estimates for urban domestic water supply in the Mekong Delta in1990 were 52 million m 3 , of which approximately 30 percent were from groundwater (expected todouble by 2000). Data on rural domestic water consumption is harder to source, but a 1990 estimatefor the Mekong Delta in Viet Nam was 33 million m 3 , all supplied from groundwater. 26As well as population concentration andgrowth, changed lifestyles and acceleratingsocio-economic development will lead toincreasing demand, particularly in the urbanareas. The wastewater burden will grow aswell. Viet Nam offers an example of typicalfuture projections. In Viet Nam, totalprojected demand for domestic water in thedelta in 2000 was an estimated 400 millionm 3 . This figure was about five times the 1990supply figure. Projections for 2015 areapproximately double those for 2000.By 2010, the population in Cambodia isexpected to increase by 30 percent anddomestic water use is expected to double,Out of 101 countries surveyed, Cambodia ranked 89 thwith regards to potential exposure to polluted water. VietNam ranked 86 th , Lao PDR 76 th , and Thailand, 18 th .with annual demand likely to increase to an estimated 350 million m 3 . 27 Overall within the basin,demand for domestic water is expected to grow by 50 percent over the next ten years, 28 with obviousmajor implications for investment and user support needs.Taken together, and even with generous rates of growth, these figures still represent only a smallpercentage of the flow in the Mekong, notwithstanding the major contribution that groundwatermakes in filling domestic needs. Nonetheless, as has been pointed out earlier, the importance ofwater for domestic and sanitation use cannot be measured based on volumetric demands alone.Much more important is the availability, security and quality of water, and its hygienic use – allessential to sustain daily life and reduce the spread of water-related disease.259