The Engineering Department (Water and Sanitation) of the Yangon City Development Com­mittee is educating citizens in specific Yangon’s townships to reduce groundwater usage due to its increasing consumption, leading to a decline in quality.

Daw Ei Khine Mon, As­sistant Director of the depart­ment, stated, “With the growing populations in the new town­ships, there’s a corresponding surge in water consumption. This has resulted in a decline in the groundwater table and its quality. In certain areas, the groundwater has deteriorated to the extent that it’s unfit for human consumption”.

She added that the de­partment has been collecting freshwater in wells as part of a pilot project to replenish the groundwater.

Currently, the department supplies water to 33 townships in the Yangon municipal area through the surface water sys­tem sourced from reservoirs at Gyobyu, Phugyi, Hlawga, and Ngamoeyeik. The collective dai­ly consumption has exceeded 200 million gallons.

In March 2021, the depart­ment initiated the Hlaing Riv­er-Hlawga water supply project to reduce reliance on ground­water during the summer.

Additional initiatives in­clude building emergency water reservoirs, distributing water through containers, gathering freshwater in wells to recharge groundwater, and providing education on collect­ing rainwater for future use. — ASH/NT