The Cambodian government has been laying great emphasis on improvement in access to water and sanitation services across the country. According to ASEAN Statistical Leaftlet 2019, the access to improved sanitation and safe drinking water in Cambodia stands at 76 per cent and 64.8 per cent respectively. Service delivery has already met the Millennium Development Goal targets of 55 per cent and 66 per cent for access to sanitation and improved water supply. However, despite being one of the fastest growing economies in Asia, the growth in the provision of facilities across urban and rural areas has been unequal. With greater focus on the urban areas, where around one-fifth of the population lives, the government has managed to make substantial progress. Cambodia aims to provide 100 per cent access to water and sanitation services in both rural and urban areas as per the National Strategic Plan for Rural Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene 2014-25 and the universal access targets for 2025 respectively.
The Table compares the status of services in Cambodia in 2012 to the targets set by the government. The figures for the base year 2012 have been taken from the National Strategic Development Plan (NSDP) 2014-18 and Joint Monitoring Program [JMP] Progress on Drinking Water and Sanitation. There is a huge disparity between government estimates and the estimates by the JMP for water supply. This may be attributed to the use of differing definitions of water supply used by the two. The reported progress of the urban water supply access by the NSDP mainly refers to piped supply, whereas there is no definition for rural water supply. Further, the NSDP figures for access to sanitation have been imputed using subsector reported progress by the Service Delivery Assessment (SDA) 2015.
Recently, the Cambodian government has undertaken various projects to build essential infrastructure for water supply and sanitation in the country, focusing mainly on the capital city of Phnom Penh. Southeast Asia Infrastructure takes a look at key upcoming and ongoing projects in the sector…
Bakheng water treatment plant, Phnom Penh
In November 2019, the water utility of Cambodia’s capital, the Phnom Penh Water Supply Authority signed a contract with France-based Vinci Construction Grands Projets to design and build the Bakheng water treatment plant (WTP) in the northern outskirts of the Cambodian capital. The first phase of the project will be executed at a cost of $155 million. The scope of work includes the construction of a facility capable of treating 195,000 cubic metres per day (cmpd) of water and the intake in the Mekong river with a capacity of 390,000 cmpd. Further, it also involves the construction of two 1.5 km long pipelines with a diameter of 1.4 metres to carry water from the Mekong river to the treatment plant and a 7.8 km pipeline with a diameter of 2 metres to be built using a microtunnelling machine. The project will bring drinking water to more than 500,000 residents of Phnom Penh under Phase I. In a bid to minimise its carbon footprint, a part of the plant’s electricity requirements will be met through 27,000 square metres of solar panels with 3.8 MW installed capacity. The Bakheng WTP is being co-financed by the French Development Agency, the European Investment Bank and the Phnom Penh Water Supply Authority. It will employ more than 500 local workers and supervisory personnel. The project contract also provides for a second conditional works phase worth $45 million to double the plant’s treatment capacity to 390,000 cmpd. The project ultimately aims to provide drinking water to a population of 1 million.
Project for sewerage system development, Phnom Penh
In another development, the Cambodian government signed a grant agreement of $27 million with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in November. The grant provides for the construction of a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) in Phnom Penh, scheduled to begin by end 2020. The WWTP will have a treatment capacity of 5,000 cmpd of wastewater. The plant will treat the wastewater at the Boeng Trabek and Boeng Tumpun lakes before it is discharged into the Choeung Ek Lake in the southern part of Phnom Penh. The implementing agency for the project is the Department of Public Works and Transport. It is the first wastewater treatment project to receive technical and financial support from the Japanese government through JICA. The project is a complementary project of the Flood Protection and Drainage Improvement Project in Phnom Penh Phases I, II, III and IV funded by Japan.
Other projects
In December 2017, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) approved a loan of $50 million to expand and improve the urban water supply and sanitation services in four cities of Cambodia – Battambang, Kampong Cham, Siem Reap and Sihanoukville. Expected to be completed by end 2022, the project aims to provide 40,000 improved water supply connections in Battambang and Kampong. The scope of work involves the construction of two WTPs with a combined capacity of 61,600 cmpd and new distribution networks with a combined length of 161 km in Battambang and Kampong Cham. It will increase the coverage of piped water supply to about 90 per cent of the population in the project cities. The project works also include the construction of a new WWTP in Battambang and expansion of the WWTP in Sihanoukville, with a combined capacity of more than 31,000 cmpd, amongst other sewerage works. The total cost of the project is estimated at about $119.17 million.
The way forward
Due to increased urbanisation, there is an urgent need to incur huge investments on the water supply and sanitation sector in areas other than Phnom Penh. A number of projects are already under way in the capital as well as other provincial cities, with funding from multilateral agencies such as JICA and ADB. However, their timely implementation and replication in rural areas will play a crucial role in the overall development of the sector.
