The water problems of a provincial town

The lack of clean drinking water in the town of Karakol, around 600 km east of the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek, is a problem which creates a variety of health hazards for the local people. It’s typical of many medium-sized communities in Central Asia in the post-Soviet era. Karakol's lack of clean water is unspectacular and has been a fact of life for residents for decades, generating little concern outside the town itself. Because of this, such problems are often ignored by both national and international bodies. "When it's raining, the drinking water becomes muddy. You can even find river worms in it. It's necessary to let the water stand for some time, then pour off the clean part before boiling it for drinking of cooking," 25-year-old Asel Berikbayeva said as she stared at the small bath in her apartment where she carries out the rudimentary purification process. She counts herself lucky though. Her flat is on the second floor while those on higher floors often receive no supply at all because there isn’t enough pressure in the system to pump water up to them. They can often be seen laboriously carrying full buckets up the crumbling staircase in order to cook and wash. "The water we drink is the same that flows in the nearest rivers. I have lived here for 17 years and the problem has existed since then," another resident of a decrepit Soviet-era apartment block on the outskirts of the town of 70,000, said. Most people are indignant that despite the unhealthy water they are forced to consume, the civic authorities charge premium rates for it. A local dooctor, Gulmira Ismailova, said water treatment in the town is minimal, leading to easily-preventable diseases being common. "There is no disinfection of the water, so we have a constantly high level of hepatitis in Karakol. Dysentery and cholera are also common. These are diseases of poverty. It's such a shame." In Soviet times, the economy of the town revolved around a number of factories and workshops that specialised in the production of electrical components. They have all been closed down now and an estimated 80 percent of the population live below the poverty line. "The drinking water was cleaner during the Soviet era, when there were some subsidies available to improve the system. Since 1992 all the funding has relied on consumer payments. The money is just not enough to fix the very old water supply system," Jenishgul Davlesova of the Karakol water board said. "Some 70 percent of residents drink water from open sources, like rivers and ponds. The water quality does not meet state approved standards but what can we do to improve the situation without resources?" asked Davlesova. Now the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) has stepped in and granted US $7 million to rehabilitate the water supply infrastructure. The Kyrgyz government will also make a contribution of around one tenth of that amount to the project. "Karakol had been selected for the rehabilitation [of its water system] because the health situation is quite bad here. Also, small cities like this tend to get ignored by most donors," Bakytbek Makhmutov, the Swiss Cooperation Office's national programme officer in Bishkek, said. "First of all a water treatment plant will be built to international standards. After that out-of-date water pipelines will be replaced. The project also envisages extension of the water supply system to outlying districts where there is no piped water at all," Akylbek Djanybekov, vice-mayor of the town, said.