Phnom Penh’s Municipal drinking water supply: water quality assessment

Abstract

The quality of the municipal drinking water supply for the residents of Phnom Penh, Cambodia is assessed. Based on measurements of water quality for the source water, the treated water and the tap water taken over a 3-year period between 2009 and 2011, the evidence is that the water quality is good and meets both World Health Organization and national drinking water standards. This is despite only basic processes being employed in the water treatment process. This is possible because the source water is of good quality. However, developments in the Mekong river basin pose a number of threats to the quality of the source water. Source water quality degradation in terms of nutrients, heavy metals and pesticides is likely to impact the drinking water quality as the water treatment processes available do not address these species.

E. coli Levels Associated with Source Waters and Household Handling Practices of Potable Water in Peri-urban Phnom Penh, Cambodia

“…Waterborne pathogens, including cryptosporidium, amoeba, E. coli, and Giardia duodenalis, have been connected to poor child growth in Cambodia (Poirot et al 2020) and can negatively impact education due to higher classroom absenteeism (Hunter et al 2014). Apart from the Phnom Penh Water Supply Authority (PPWSA) and water kiosks (Dany et al 2000;Vanny et al 2015;Sevea 2017;WaterAid 2018;PPWSA 2020), much of the work on microbial management in peri-urban areas of Cambodia has focused on the efficacy of various household treatment systems, including ceramic filters (Brown et al 2008;Brown and Sobsey 2010;Murphy et al 2010;, sand filters (Murphy et al 2010;Stauber et al 2012), solar disinfection (SODIS) (McGuigan et al 2012), and boiling Thomas et al 2015). While these different treatments are capable of significantly reducing microbial contamination and associated waterborne illnesses, efficacy of the systems are influenced by various factors related to individual design (e.g., proper packing of the sand for sand filters, boiling practices; variability of solar treatment time), level of contamination in the source water, and maintenance practices (Clasen et al 2008;Stauber et al 2012;McGuigan et al 2012;Keane et al 2014;Thomas et al 2015;Irvine et al 2016).…”