Access and service quality Water supply in Afghanistan

1 access , service quality

1.1 overview
1.2 kabul
1.3 kandahar
1.4 herat
1.5 kunduz
1.6 lashkar gah

access , service quality
overview

a dug along road in faryab province of afghanistan. because of risk of contamination open wells such 1 not considered improved water source, measure used un measure achievement of millennium development goals.

in 2015, 55% of population had access improved water, 78% , 47%, in urban , rural areas, respectively. still, in year, 14 million people without access improved water. access improved water source not mean water safe drink. example, protected shallow wells in urban areas contaminated bacteria. piped water supply can contaminated. households without access improved source take water streams , rivers, open wells , unprotected springs, of polluted. in rural areas women , girls walk long distances fetch water.

a hand pump in parwan province, common in parts of afghanistan.

there have been considerable improvements in access water supply in last several years. countrywide multiple indicator cluster survey carried out during reign of taliban in 1997 found estimated 7% of rural population , 17% of urban population had access improved water source @ time. while survey results represent estimates have margin of error, recorded improvements in rural areas match fact significant investments undertaken ngos , government under national solidarity program initiated in 2003. improvements in urban areas puzzling, since no major investments in water supply systems took place during period in kabul , kandahar. possibly 1997 figure not include urban population served public wells. furthermore, service quality, poor, not reflected in above figures. example, because of poor electrical service, serious voltage fluctuations, poor installation of equipment , lack of preventive maintenance, pump failures frequent , lead supply interruptions.

in 2004 mortality rate of children under 5 high 25%. half of these deaths caused water-borne diseases. household surveys indicated spending on health care second food.

kabul

settlements on hills in city of kabul. of these residents have no access piped water supply pay many water carriers job delivering water homes everyday.

as of 2005, half million people or 15% of population of kabul connected piped water supply system through estimated 30,000 house connections. of not connected receive water neighbors or public hand pumps, both of considered improved water sources. many kabul residents water 100,000 shallow private wells polluted , vulnerable drought. according united states geological survey study carried out 2005 2007, quarter of shallow wells have fallen dry. 40% of remaining wells fall seasonally or permanently dry because of increased withdrawals, if not deepened. reduced water availability because of impacts of climate change further exacerbate situation.

the public piped water supply system provides 60,000 cubic meter of water per day through separate piped networks in 2005 3 different sources:

the logar river aquifer south-east of city;
the afshar field drawing paghman river aquifer west;
the alaudin field drawing upper kabul aquifer south.

in addition, small part of city connected distribution system served qargha karez. however, traditional water supply system had fallen dry in 2002.

water supply fortunate enough connected 100 liter per capita per-day, assuming 15 people per connection , 1 third of physical water losses in distribution network. per capita water use high in germany. however, water quality poor, supply intermittent , great majority not have access piped network have less water. kabul water project aimed @ tripling number of house connections 90,000 , doubling water production existing fields new field on lower kabul river aquifer, providing water more 600,000 people.

the kabul water project financed both kfw (well field extension , reservoir) , world bank (transmission line, distribution network, house connections , meters). project supposed completed in 2010. however, world bank withdrew project because of disputes on procurement.

kandahar

in kandahar there 1 network supplied 3 or 4 deep wells. in 2002, delivered 2,500 cubic meter per-day city of half million. of population depends on polluted shallow wells @ risk of running dry. irrigation purposes population of kandahar depends on dahla dam north of city.

herat

as of 2012 herat had more 39,000 house connections, of equipped meters. 45 percent of population in service area of water company had access piped water supply, including 85 percent in city , around 30 percent in surrounding areas. since 2008, local public water company – officially called strategic business unit of national water company - has been operating @ profit. profit reinvested in infrastructure. according german development agency giz, service of herat water utility can compared similar set-ups in industrialised countries. 105 employees in 2013 water utility not overstaffed; ratio of 2.5 employees per 1,000 connections corresponds international practice. utility receives water wells. half wells within city , other half in outskirts. drinking water quality not systematically monitored. according non-representative survey carried out in 2013, 2 thirds of customers receive intermittent water supply interruptions of 1 , half days, 1 third indicated amount of water received - 60 liter per capita per day on average - insufficient, 1 third said water meters had not been read @ least last 6 months, , complained insufficient water pressure. water company collects 75 percent of total amount of water billed. german financing new field, transmission line , storage facilities completed in 2008. additional water quantity allowed quadruple number of house connections between 2002 , 2012. new field has improved water quality, according residents surveyed. households not connected piped network use shallow wells or water vendors.

the salma dam built in herat province construction finished 4 of june 2016.

kunduz

in kunduz water supply improved substantially since 2007. april 2007 until december 2009 number of connections increased 370 2,100, providing piped water supply 1 third of city. network expanded 14 71 km. new computer-aided accounting system being introduced increase share of bills paid. in 2008, first time revenues covered operating costs. residents of kunduz rely on water [[kunduz] , [khanabad] rivers] irrigation purposes.

lashkar gah

it announced in 2005 usaid-funded project build 6 reservoirs in lashkar gah, responsibility water supply being handed on helmand , arghandab valley authority. city had been without fresh water previous 30 years due contamination of helmand river. people of lashkar gah rely on kajaki dam irrigation, located near in kajaki district of helmand province.