Green 3: Water Pond: Open, unprotected water ponds, such as the one in the photo, is the main source of domestic water supply among many rural villages in Southeast Asia. The pond is usually constructed by digging a wide hole into the ground until natural springs or ground water keeps the hole filled with water all year round. Villagers then gather water from the pond for all types of domestic use, including for drinking, cooking, bathing, washing clothes and for watering their backyard gardens.
A lot could be said about this water source particularly from the health, hygiene and sanitation point of view but, for various reasons - including poverty and lack of sustained programs for the development of improved water sources - most villages have very limited choices at the moment.
In Myanmar, for example, WHO estimates that only 4.1% of households have piped water into the dwelling. Water treatment at home is estimated to be carried out by only 34.5% of the population: treatment by cloth is carried out by 76.2%, boiling by 1.4%, and water filter by 0.6%. It is also estimated that 12.2% of the population does not use water treatment, and unsafe drinking water coverage is 33.1%.
In short, while the rest of the world is pouring away billions of gallons of clean water into golf courses, gardens and lawns every second; many rural households don't even have a proper water to drink all year round. (JP)
