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| Cambodian villagers get water from a truck at a camp in Preah Vihear province, some 300 miles northwest of Phnom Penh. Though 92 percent of households in Phnom Penh have clean running water, many in rural Cambodia rely on trucks or water purification tablets. (Tang Chhin Sothy/AFP/Getty Images) |
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| Ek Sonn Chan of Cambodia accepts the 2006 Ramon Magsaysay Award for Government Service, in Manila, Philippines. Chan was cited for his “exemplary rehabilitation of a ruined public utility, bringing safe drinking water to a million people in Cambodia’s capital city.” (Bullit Marquez/AP) |
June 2, 2011
By Rob Gifford
NPR (USA)
The sound of running water — clean running water — is not one you have always been able to hear in the ramshackle lean-tos that pass for homes on the edge of Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia.
Providing clean water is one of the biggest challenges for governments in the developing world. Clean water charities say that thousands of people die every day of preventable diseases as a result of not having clean drinking water, and 90 percent of those who die are under the age of 5.
But in recent years, Phnom Penh has been leading the way: The city has managed to provide clean running water to almost the entire urban population.
Cleaner, Cheaper Water
The lean-to homes on the city’s edge are small and dark. Inside one, a few boards separate the single bedroom from the main living space. The corrugated iron roof leaks light onto the dirty floor. But here, 60-year-old Khive Thol is drinking water from the tap.
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