About the Partner
BackgroundRainWater Cambodia (RWC) a local organization, non profit and non political party was established in 2004 to formalize and promote rainwater harvesting in order to contribute to the necessary improvement of access to safe water sources and sanitation in rural areas in Cambodia. In many areas throughout the country there is no accessible ground water or ground water is unsuitable for drinking due to high salinity, high iron levels or other contaminants such as naturally occurring arsenic. Rainwater harvesting is a traditional practice in rural areas in Cambodia (JICA (2002) estimated that 87% of rural households use rain water in the wet season) and rainwater represents a well appreciated water source. However the traditional systems and practices present some limits (volume of storage) and contamination risks (open storage), which must be limited through the formalization of rainwater harvesting systems designed based on a risk management approach.
(Ferro-cement tank volume 35m³ in Takeo Province)
Major Achievement and Progress
Arsenic mitigation:
RWC was grateful to receive funding from both the EU and FSD to work on an arsenic mitigation project in Kandal province. We worked in the areas where villagers are affected by and at high risk of consuming arsenic through drinking water supplies. In Kandal province 80% of villagers use drilled wells, which were tested and found to be highly contaminated with arsenic. RWC strongly supported the community to find simple solutions to access to safe drinking water through the construction of rainwater harvesting tanks and water-sanitation and hygiene promotion campaigns. We also developed the capacity of local contractors to take part in the construction of rainwater harvesting facilities to respond to the community demand
Schools with rain water harvesting tank
In 2009, RWC has installed three systems for institutional rainwater harvesting in primary school’s such as Sampan primary school in Teuk Phos district of Kampong Chnange province. The best technical option for rainwater harvesting for that school was determined to be a concrete ring tank with the volume 21m³. For the two other systems a ferro-cement tank sized at 35m³ was used for primary schools in Takeo and Phnom Penh. The design of the school rainwater harvesting system or institutional system were based on the roof harvesting area at the school, the daily demand (amount of water to be consumed) and the available budget. The system size designed for the schools provides for the availability of half a liter of drinking water per child per day and one liter per staff member per day. The rainwater harvesting system design incorporates a risk management approach where critical control points are identified and control mechanisms used to minimize the risk of contamination of the water supply.
For more information please read the RWC 2009 Annual Report
EWB Volunteer
It has been a very busy few months here at RainWater Cambodia. With a small team of dedicated Cambodians managing five different projects scattered throughout the countryside, resources are stretched, but in true Khmer style complaints are few and good-natured and the work gets done, meaning rural Cambodians get to drink clean rainwater throughout the year. Or in this case, expectant mothers can venture to rural health centres knowing they will have sanitary conditions and plenty of clean water in which to give birth.
RainWater Cambodia has been working on a health centre project for the last 12 months which is due to be completed within the next month. The project was based in Kampong Speu province, only an hour from the capital city but in a very poor area with water access limited and sanitation and hygiene rare commodities for people living here. Twenty one of the provinces most resource- poor health centres were targeted for an upgrade which involved installing rainwater harvesting systems with 35m3 Ferro-cement tanks, bicycle pumps, header tanks, hand-washing stations and in some cases pour flush latrines. The bicycle pump is used (by the expecting father) to pump the rainwater from the main tank into a smaller header tank which then gravity feeds the water directly into the building. Rainwater is also piped from the main tank directly to the latrines and outdoor hand-washing stations.
Bicycle pump, header tank and hand-washing station outside health centre
Alongside the infrastructure improvements, RWC , working closely with the health centre staff, local district authorities and village health volunteers to launch a huge WASH campaign where villagers surrounding each health centre were invited to check out the upgraded health centres and pick up a few tips on hygiene and water safety . The campaign was structured to promote the health centres as a ‘model’ for WASH in the community, and to encourage expectant mothers to make the trip to the nearest one to give birth ….hopefully saving lives as many mothers die from infections each year giving birth in remote rural areas.
Getting the message across
With toilets and cunningly placed hand-washing stations positioned to encourage visitors (and the HC staff) to make the link between toilet use and hand-washing, backed up by the WASH open day campaign it is hoped that the visiting villagers take this life saving information back to their villagers and households. The village health volunteers and health centre staff were bombarded by questions throughout the different days and in many cases the villagers themselves were answering each others questions, suggesting that indeed the campaign was working.