Water is key in securing good conditions for development
Kyrgyzstan has a challenged water infrastructure, especially in rural areas. To accelerate change, the government has sought help outside the country which has resulted in, on the recommendation of UNEP, a Kyrgyz delegation visiting Denmark.
Kyrgyzstan, officially the Kyrgys Republic, is a 200,000 km2 mountain-covered country located in Central Asia. The country has about 6.7 million inhabitants, of which 35% live in cities. A major infrastructural challenge for Kyrgyzstan is excessive water losses, which are estimated to be on the wrong side of 40%. Moreover, only about a third of Kyrgyz homes are connected to a sewage system. 300+ villages are lacking water supply, and almost 500 villages have an inadequate water supply which requires renovation.
Poor conditions for development
Based on the Kyrgyz delegation's visit, I was on a return visit to Kyrgyzstan in November 2023. The aim was to explore the possibilities of implementing one or more non-revenue-water projects in the country; projects to mitigate the current excessive water loss.
During the visit, we stopped by three villages in the Issyk-Kul region: Toru-Aijgyr, Kyzyl-Oruk and Sary-Kamysh. Issyk-Kul is a lake located about 250 km east of the capital Bishkek, and the region has been designated by the government as a tourist area because of the beautiful nature and mountains surrounding the lake. Therefore, the region wants to develop the area so it becomes more attractive for permanent residents, who can then help to kick-start tourism in the area.
The central government is even making land available to first-time buyers in the hope of developing the region. However, this is held back by the lack of proper water infrastructure. Who wants to settle in a place without proper water supply?
Insufficient – and contaminated - water supply
All three villages have previously been supplied with groundwater from separate boreholes. None of the three wells are in operation due to worn-out equipment and/or insufficient maintenance. All three villages are therefore supplied with meltwater from the nearby mountains. The meltwater runs in open channels until it reaches a sort of reservoir, from where it is piped to the respective village. The village of Toru-Aijgyr is supplied with water two days a week, Kyzyl-Oruk has no water supply, and Sary-Kamysh is supplied two hours a day.
Meltwater from the mountains runs in open channels over fields where livestock is kept. This means that livestock is polluting the water and, in the absence of any water treatment, the villages are supplied with contaminated water posing a health hazard to the population. When visiting the local doctor's office, I asked about the extent of sick leave due to waterborne disease. The doctor could of course not give any answer to this, but could however share that the entire community, approximately 6,400 inhabitants, was infected with hepatitis A and B in 2017.
The limited water supply is not only for households, but also for public institutions such as the local medical centre. Here, water is collected in two buckets and a milk churn. Tools used in medical practice are sterilised by pouring boiling water over it. Hand washing is carried out to a very limited extent to save water. The same goes for the local school, attended by more than 300 students, as well as two kindergartens.
School in Toru-Aijgyr
305 students attend the school in Toru-Aijgyr. 128 children under the age of ten also eat in the school canteen, where the food is prepared in an attached kitchen. As in the doctor's office, you have to collect the water in containers and distribute it over the days when there is no water supply. This means that the children cannot wash their hands after using the toilet, and in the worst cases, the children go directly from the toilet to the canteen to eat lunch. Unfortunately, it has not been possible to find out how many school hours are lost due to a waterborne disease. Again, reference is made to the Hepatitis outbreak in 2027.
In the entire area there are two kindergartens with a minimum of 150 children. Information is only available from one kindergarten.
Status quo threatens groundwater resources
In connection to our visit to the Issyk-Kul area, we had the opportunity to look into a resident's private home in the village with water supply two days per week. The supply of water came from a 32 mm PEL hose lying on top of the ground in the backyard. The water is then collected in canisters as well as a freestanding water container. At the same time, livestock is kept in the same backyard, with shared use of the water and with the danger of fecal contamination. Apart from the school, there is no actual toilet in the entire visited area with about 1,500 households. All properties have a tiny house on the plot, where a hole in the ground functions as toilet. This creates a risk of the groundwater eventually becoming polluted, if not already.
Suggesting a solution
The local authorities have made a rough estimate of establishing a stable water supply. Based on calculations made by the former geological centre in Toru-Aijgyr, it is stated that there is enough groundwater in the area to supply the current population as well as a possible expansion with newcomers.
The initial proposal is to re-establish the boreholes for groundwater pumping. The drilling field must be provided with a simple purification, similar to what we do in Denmark with aeration of the raw water and filtration through a sand filter. The water will then be pumped into a buried distribution network to the respective villages - one drilling field supplying one village - with associated mains to each household with a barrier and a water meter.
The present estimate describes about 7 km main line as well as approx. 90 km of connectors.
