Amid cycles of drought and flooding, safe and affordable water management has never been more important, especially in Asia.
In the summer of 2022 we saw China's Yangtze River dry up and Europe experience its worst drought in 500 years. Australia, Iran, Pakistan, India and Bangladesh all saw catastrophic flooding. The reality of climate change means extreme weather events are going to increase in frequency and impact.
Consequently, effectively managing water resources has never been more important, but inadequate or ageing infrastructure, such as cracked pipes, means trillions of litres of water are regularly lost, and some 2 billion people still don't have direct access to clean drinking water, according to Sabic, a global petrochemical company affiliated with Saudi Aramco.
Across Asia Pacific, access to clean drinking water varies hugely. While countries like Singapore and Japan have almost universal access, in emerging markets the story is very different. In Vietnam only half of residents in rural areas have access to clean water while in India, only 52% of the country's 191 million households have tap water connections.
Access to safe water and sanitation is vital for human health but sustainable management of water resources is also vital. This is a major roadblock in economies around the world, including in Asia, where legacy infrastructure is crumbling and urgently needs upgrading.
In Malaysia, it has been estimated that more than 4 billion litres of treated water, equivalent to the size of 1,700 Olympic-sized swimming pools, are leaking out of the country's ageing pipe system every day.
In Vietnam, the country's 140-year-old water treatment and distribution system is struggling to keep up with modern day needs. Showing signs of severe deterioration, a report from Ho Chi Min City's utility company in 2016 revealed that it lost nearly 30% of its clean water due to leaky and broken pipes.
To boost critical funding needs, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) will lend and invest a total of 16.2 trillion dong (US$684 million) in Ho Chi Minh City to alleviate its urban flooding and pollution problems. This includes plans to renovate canal systems, build a new sewage system and wastewater treatment plant.
All around the world, old, broken or dangerous pipes need either replacing or fixing, and the most cost-effective way to provide safe and sustainable water supplies will be through high-quality plastic pipes.
The safety and longevity of these pipes will play a huge role in maintaining access to clean drinking water and keeping costs manageable, minimising disruptions and the need to regularly overhaul pre-existing water infrastructure.
ACCESS TO SAFE WATER
While many countries are grappling with legacy projects that need fixing, emerging markets are also faced with significantly expanding access to water, for drinking and sanitation. Between 2016 and 2020, the global population with safely managed drinking water at home increased from 70% to 74%.
In 2020, 107 million people gained access to safe drinking water at home, but 1 in 4 people globally still lacked safely managed drinking water.
This issue is a matter of life and death. In 2018 in India, a government think tank estimated that around 200,000 people die every year due to inadequate access to safe water. The dire situation has propelled the government to announce a mission to provide potable tap water supply to all 190 million rural households by 2024. In three years, the government connected a total of 100 million households with piped clean water, up from the initial 30 million.
Across the region, in countries from Cambodia to Laos, Mongolia to Myanmar, governments have been focused on increasing the rural population's access to safe drinking water. However, even more can be done.
The Vietnam case shows the need for governments to engage in the right partnerships to solve some of these legacy infrastructure issues with innovative solutions that consider the impact of climate change as well as diverse geographical conditions.
In Asia, climates, terrain and natural disasters can vary widely, which is why solutions have to be customised for each region. In Nepal, for instance, pipes need to be earthquake-resistant. Sabic worked with local pipe manufacturers to provide a high-density polyethylene (HDPE) material that has a higher tensile strength, greater resistance to corrosion, lighter weight and lower cost than traditional steel or iron. This provides higher quality materials for Nepalese pipe manufacturers to supply pipes that are more resistant to earthquake damage.
This example shows the importance both of collaboration and of ensuring that government standards on plastic water pipes are high and don't get relaxed to include lower-grade materials.
LONG-TERM SAVINGS
Higher quality plastic pipes represent much better value, with the rise in upfront cost more than outweighed by money saved due to lower maintenance because of their reliability and longevity.
Overconsumption and mismanagement of water resources is a huge challenge that -- if nothing changes -- will only increase in severity with time. According to a recent UN report, droughts are becoming more frequent and prolonged, and could affect 75% of people by 2050.
While changes to agricultural processes should be at the core of tackling this challenge, sustainable infrastructure is also a key.
As climate change intensifies, effective water management must be put at the top of the agenda, and topics such as the quality of water pipes must be a part of the conversation.
