Laos is a nation with plentiful surface water and broad rivers, but outside of cities, water sanitation and accessibility infrastructure is sparse. Few improvements have been made since the end of the Laotian Civil War in 1975, especially compared to peer nations such as Thailand. By 2015, 76% of Laotians nationwide were estimated to have access to “improved” water (water not taken directly from natural flows), while 71% were estimated to have access to “improved” sanitation (access to a sewage system more advanced than simple latrines).
National-average numbers for sanitation obscure some important internal variation between urban and rural settings. Most Laotians get their water from surface flows close to their dwellings, so infrastructure is minimal. Outside of the cities, women and small children are often tasked with carrying drinking water by hand from rural collection sites, which impacts educational attainment, economic growth, and rural quality of life. In the capital, Vientiane, aging sewage systems work poorly and are overdue for infrastructural improvement. Moreover, there is an ongoing gap between rural and town dwellers, with 60% fewer rural people having access to sanitation, and 38% fewer having access to drinking water. An estimated 23% of Laotians nationwide still habitually defecate on open ground, allowing their waste to wash into rivers and canals. This persistent reality affects agriculture and natural ecosystems, as well as human health.
Access to water According to data from the World Bank collected in 2014, Laos has met the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) targets on water and sanitation regarding UNICEF/WHO Joint Monitoring Program. However, as of today, approximately 1.9 million members of the Lao population could not access the improved water supply and 2.4 million people go without access to improved sanitation due to inequalities in access between areas with or without sufficient transport infrastructure. Poor sanitation affects people's health and national economic development. Annually, poor sanitation and hygiene problems cause three million disease cases in Laos, including 6.000 premature deaths. 49 percent of children in rural areas suffer from poor sanitation as of 2011. Taken together, water access and sanitation troubles are responsible for 193 million dollars of national economic loss per year, equal to 5.6% of GDP. In Laos, dysentery and diarrhea are common, caused partly by deficient sanitation, improper water supply, and the absence of adequate wastewater treatment facilities as a result of the rapid increase in urban population. Laotian people who can get access to sanitation in rural areas account for only 36 percent in 2004. The government in Laos adopted the Millennium Development as prepared collaborative by the United Nations, World Bank and International Mutual Fund to promote water supply and sanitation for its people to access safe drinking and basic sanitation.
Water resources
Mekong River The Mekong River plays an important role in Laos's economy. The Mekong River basin covers nearly 90 per cent of Laos country and drains toward Vietnam. The capacity of the Mekong River basin to sustain food security and water availability in the Lao People's Democratic Republic (PDR) is largely hindered by competing economic, ecological, and political interests. In Laos, the government encourages hydro-power investment, which increases pressure on water and sea animal threats. The development of electricity in Laos and export to neighbouring countries are essential for government revenues to reduce poverty. Although hydro-power does not pollute water or air directly, hydro-power reservoirs and dams can affect Laos's environment, land use, and natural habitats. There are potential environmental consequences of damming riverways, including creating reservoirs, flooding, blocking the natural course of the river, and impacting the construction of power lines. For example, the structure of dam and reservoir interfere with aquatic migration and alter water temperature and the river's flow; as a result, it may injure the life of land and sea animals and animals.
People use Mekong River directly for drinking, cooking, bathing and washing. However, as the population increases, watercourses that are used simultaneously for water disposal and water supply cause health issues like diarrhea and typhoid. Meanwhile, locals stated that before the upstream dams were built, they could safely drink the Mekong River water. However, after the Xayaburi Dam in Laos was built, the water quality became contaminated. The water quality in Laos become even worse when a new dam was built in Don Sahong, less than 2 kilometers from the town, causing the population get diarrhoea and inhale with bad air quality. Furthermore, fisheries contribute about 13 percent of Laos's national GDP per year. Most population live near the Mekong river found dead fish floating in polluted water in the area between the Don Sahong Dam and Preah Rumkel (Cambodia) which made their only source of water for drinking, cooking, fishing and everyday chores as disaster.
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