PHNOM PENH: The Director General of the Phnom Penh Water Supply Authority, Long Naro, called on the people living in the city to save and not waste water so that those living on the outskirts of the city will have water to use during the dry season.

Speaking at a press conference on "Local Progress, Communes and Sub-Directions of the Phnom Penh Capital Administration", Director General Long Naro said that the use of water in Phnom Penh spans from east to west of the Mekong River until Kambol district, around 20 km away. Sometimes the water reaches the suburbs in the morning because the water in the city is at a high pressure.

Citing a study, he said each person in Phnom Penh consumes about 280 liters of water per day, while generally, individuals should consume around 150 liters per day. He added that the shortage of water in Phnom Penh is due to two factors: the addition of more communes in Phnom Penh and the abnormal decline of the Mekong River.

He stated, "In the past, the water supply project in Phnom Penh guaranteed 100% supply, but there have been many additions of new communes in Phnom Penh, we did not calculate for the addition of 20 more communes, so the shortage of clean water supply dropped to 85% and has now expanded to the current 92%. Second, during the dry season, the Mekong River recedes by about 1 meter. Normally during the dry season, the Mekong River has three meters of water for pumping and supply, but now there are only two meters left."

At present, Phnom Penh has the capacity to produce 592 thousand cubic meters of clean water from four factories, while the current demand is 800,000 cubic meters. In 2030, the production capacity of clean water in Phnom Penh is expected to increase to 1.8 million cubic meters.