Skip to main content
International Partnerships

The Kyrgyz Republic gets an urgent boost to their Water Mains

Cholpon-Ata is one of the largest resort towns in the Kyrgyz Republic and home to over 14,000 people. The town is important for the country’s economy thanks to its beautiful location on the northern shores of Lake Issyk-Kul.

Cholpon-Ata is, however, in urgent need of better water infrastructure. The water mains and pipelines, some of which were installed 60 years ago, keep bursting, with some neighbourhoods even lacking access to tap water altogether. This makes it hard to meet even the most basic hygiene guidelines, the importance of which cannot be underestimated given the current coronavirus pandemic.

To tackle this problem, the local municipality received a €1 million loan from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), a further €1 million loan from the European Investment Bank and a €3.1 million grant from the European Union (EU).

With this much-needed funding, the Kyrgyz water company is upgrading and expanding the water sources and network. It will build three new water reservoirs and a laboratory to check the water quality, install water meters in households and replace essential equipment. The company has already started installing a 21 km network of new plastic pipes and 400 manholes across the town.

For immediate repair needs, the company also purchased maintenance vehicles – two backhoe loaders, a pickup truck and a specialised mobile workshop.

Kirghistan water mains

 

The water company’s work and the importance of water for hygiene has grown amid this crisis situation. Everywhere in the city, there are posters and reminders to wash hands. Without a suitable water supply, the situation can deteriorate very quickly,

Water Company’s Director, Makhmut Turdakunov

It is not unusual for the repair engineers to be informed of 3 to 4 pipe breakages in one day.

Aziz Temirbekov, a repair engineer at the water company, recalls: “Before, fixing a leaking or broken pipe could easily take a day. Now, our specialised vehicle has everything – tools to cut and join plastic and metal pipes, a special pump and a mobile electricity source for the equipment.”

Meanwhile, as the Covid-19 situation in Kyrgyz Republic evolves, Aziz is proud that his work goes beyond just fixing pipes and helps residents meet their health needs as well.

To date, no cases of Covid-19 have been registered in the town, but the water company’s Director, Makhmut Turdakunov, has nevertheless promptly introduced mitigation measures.

While Kyrgyz companies across all sectors are shutting down, strategic utilities like the water company need to ensure uninterrupted services. Employees from other districts stay home to reduce the circulation of people and local employees work on shorter 3-day shifts at the pumping stations.

Kirghistan workers

 

“The water company’s work and the importance of water for hygiene has grown amid this crisis situation. Everywhere in the city, there are posters and reminders to wash hands. Without a suitable water supply, the situation can deteriorate very quickly,” says Mr Turdakunov.

Work is underway to improve management, increase transparency in reporting and accounting, introduce a new tariff methodology, increase payment collections and communicate better with customers.

By introducing adequate tariffs and installing over 2,500 water meters, the company sees a clear path to becoming a financially healthy enterprise, capable of maintaining the water system and delivering safe drinking water to users while strengthening their personal hygiene for many decades to come.