Community based water supply project
Until recently, most host communities living around the Sepon mine did not have a reliable piped water supply. Some were reliant on daily deliveries by water tankers while others had to fetch water from open streams and carry it back to their villages.
This issue is now being addressed through the installation of water supply systems in 12 villages.
Water is being provided in a sustainable way, using bore holes and a gravity fed water supply system run on solar power. Each community will have up to five tap stations (each with multiple taps), which will mean that most users have less than 200 metres to access clean water. The approximate value of this project is US$900,000.
UN Habitat is also working with Savannakhet province on a piped urban water program, to which Sepon is contributing approximately US$250,000. By 2013/14, Bounkham (the district capital) will have an urban water system.
About 3,400 community members around the mine now have access to a safe and reliable water supply.