UN relief chief voices concern over people without water access in Ukraine.
NEW YORK, June 14 (KUNA) — UN Relief Chief appealed to all parties to the conflict in Ukraine to immediately ensure a prolonged cessation of hostilities to allow critical repair and maintenance to restore water supply.
In a statement released on Wednesday, Emergency Relief Coordinator Stephen O’Brien said he is deeply concerned for the well-being of some 400,000 people on both sides of the ‘contact line’ in the Donetska Oblast of eastern Ukraine, who have been without access to safe drinking water for four days due to shelling of the First Lift Pumping Station of the South Donbass Water Pipeline on June 11.
"The water supply to another 700,000 people is also hanging in the balance," he said.
According to the statement, emergency services and aid agencies are working together to provide water to affected communities by any means possible.
O’Brien is extremely concerned about possible outbreaks of water-borne diseases and the effect that water cuts will have on health facilities in the area.
He called for the need for urgent and permanent repairs to the pumping station is paramount.
(end) mao.mb

Gideon Ahenkorah/ Julius K. Satsi, GNA Accra, June 14, GNA – Mr Joseph Kofi Adda, the Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources, on Wednesday reaffirmed government’s commitment to supporting prudent initiatives aimed to increase public access to safe water and improved sanitation. The Minister was addressing a group of African Water, construction and building experts at this year’s three-day Water Africa and West Africa Building and Construction Trade seminar and exhibition underway in Accra. The event organised by ACE event management, a UK-based organisation, is on the theme: “Ghana’s Urban and Rural Water and Sanitation Challenge in the 21st Century.” The event, which commenced on Wednesday and is expected to end on Friday, aims at creating a two-way flow of information for the visitors and participants to help them analyse their sector needs and take steps for expansion and improvement. Mr Adda explained that the quest for increased access to safe water formed part of the government’s vision to improve health outcomes for economic growth and development. Mr Adda said Ghana had…

Gideon Ahenkorah/ Julius K. Satsi, GNA Accra, June 14, GNA – Mr Joseph Kofi Adda, the Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources, on Wednesday reaffirmed government’s commitment to supporting prudent initiatives aimed to increase public access to safe water and improved sanitation. The Minister was addressing a group of African Water, construction and building experts at this year’s three-day Water Africa and West Africa Building and Construction Trade seminar and exhibition underway in Accra. The event organised by ACE event management, a UK-based organisation, is on the theme: “Ghana’s Urban and Rural Water and Sanitation Challenge in the 21st Century.” The event, which commenced on Wednesday and is expected to end on Friday, aims at creating a two-way flow of information for the visitors and participants to help them analyse their sector needs and take steps for expansion and improvement. Mr Adda explained that the quest for increased access to safe water formed part of the government’s vision to improve health outcomes for economic growth and development. Mr Adda said Ghana had…

Morocco promises no water shortages in Al Hoceima.
The Moroccan government has promised that there will be no water crisis or shortages in the turbulent Al Hoceima until 2035.
The promise was made yesterday during a meeting held by a delegation led by the Minister of the Interior, Abdelouafi Laftit, the Secretary of State for Water, Abdelkader Amara, minister of equipment, and the director general of the National Office of Electricity and Drinking Water (ONEE).
The delegation took stock of the state of progress of the water infrastructure strengthening projects which received nearly $1 million in funding.
“I have intervened to remind you that not only Al Hoceima, but also other provinces in the region, do not yet have access to drinking water,” he said.
According to El Omari, the inhabitants of the region have suffered greatly from the shortage of water accentuated by the drought in Ouazzane and Chaouen.
“Several residents of the region complained about this situation last year,” he recalled.
For El Omari, the origin of this situation also lies in the lack of financial developments in the region.
“The transfer of the powers to the regions has not yet been made … we receive from the government a percentage of the taxes of a value of 400 to 450 million dirhams [around $40 million per year],” he said, stressing that at the next session of the regional council in July it is expected that the region will get better and more involved in the supply of water and electricity by giving financial support to the municipalities.
Secretary of State, Charafat Afailal, said in a statement to the press that “this dam will strengthen the water infrastructure and meet the province’s drinking water needs.”

Reader’s view: Don’t take water for granted.
To the editor: Imagine waking up every morning wondering where you will have to get your next clean drink.
This may sound like something out of a bad dream, but in many developing nations it is a reality.
I think it is important to bring awareness to the shortage of water across the world and how much water is wasted.
According to the United Nations Water Corporation, over 783 million people do not have access to clean water across the globe.
Charity Water is a non-profit organization whose mission is to bring clean and safe drinking water to people in developing communities.
Since 2006, Charity Water has funded about 23,000 water projects and provided an estimated 7 million people with safe drinking water, roughly 1 percent of the estimated 783 million without clean water in the world.
Think about how much access you have to clean water sources: home faucets, garden hoses, sprinkler systems, car washes, fire hydrants, etc.
Now compare that to the amount of water in developing nations where perhaps one glass of water is all they have access to in a day.
Midland

Morocco promises no water shortages in Al Hoceima.
The Moroccan government has promised that there will be no water crisis or shortages in the turbulent Al Hoceima until 2035.
The promise was made yesterday during a meeting held by a delegation led by the Minister of the Interior, Abdelouafi Laftit, the Secretary of State for Water, Abdelkader Amara, minister of equipment, and the director general of the National Office of Electricity and Drinking Water (ONEE).
The delegation took stock of the state of progress of the water infrastructure strengthening projects which received nearly $1 million in funding.
“I have intervened to remind you that not only Al Hoceima, but also other provinces in the region, do not yet have access to drinking water,” he said.
According to El Omari, the inhabitants of the region have suffered greatly from the shortage of water accentuated by the drought in Ouazzane and Chaouen.
“Several residents of the region complained about this situation last year,” he recalled.
For El Omari, the origin of this situation also lies in the lack of financial developments in the region.
“The transfer of the powers to the regions has not yet been made … we receive from the government a percentage of the taxes of a value of 400 to 450 million dirhams [around $40 million per year],” he said, stressing that at the next session of the regional council in July it is expected that the region will get better and more involved in the supply of water and electricity by giving financial support to the municipalities.
Secretary of State, Charafat Afailal, said in a statement to the press that “this dam will strengthen the water infrastructure and meet the province’s drinking water needs.”

Reader’s view: Don’t take water for granted.
To the editor: Imagine waking up every morning wondering where you will have to get your next clean drink.
This may sound like something out of a bad dream, but in many developing nations it is a reality.
I think it is important to bring awareness to the shortage of water across the world and how much water is wasted.
According to the United Nations Water Corporation, over 783 million people do not have access to clean water across the globe.
Charity Water is a non-profit organization whose mission is to bring clean and safe drinking water to people in developing communities.
Since 2006, Charity Water has funded about 23,000 water projects and provided an estimated 7 million people with safe drinking water, roughly 1 percent of the estimated 783 million without clean water in the world.
Think about how much access you have to clean water sources: home faucets, garden hoses, sprinkler systems, car washes, fire hydrants, etc.
Now compare that to the amount of water in developing nations where perhaps one glass of water is all they have access to in a day.
Midland

Thames Water fined £8.5m for missing leakage targets.
LONDON, UK – The UK’s largest utility, Thames Water, has been fined £8.55 million by industry regulator Ofwat for missing leakage reduction targets in 2016-2017.
Financial results released by the utility revealed that it missed its 2016/17 leakage target by 47,000 m3/day – representing 1.8% of its average daily production.
The news follows a recently commissioned review of Thames Water’s trunk water mains, which found that 0.19% of the trunk mains network is replaced per year.
The London Assembly Environment Committee, which will hold a meeting with utility executives tomorrow, said “at this rate it would take over 500 years to completely renew the network”.
Commenting on the financial results, Steve Robertson, CEO of Thames Water, said: “Recognising that additional investment is required in some critical areas we’ll spend in excess of £150 million between now and 2020, above our original plans, to replace more ‘trunk’ mains, reduce leakage, improve some of our oldest sewers and upgrade the IT systems that underpin our customer service.” Regulator Ofwat said the £8.55 million fine, which is to be paid by the “company alone and cannot be passed on to customers”, is the maximum automatic penalty under the performance commitment regime.
Cathryn Ross, chief executive of Thames Water, said: “The failure by Thames Water to meet the leakage commitments it has made to its customers is unacceptable.
Our performance commitment regime imposes significant penalties for failure to deliver the levels of performance that customers have paid for and consequently, Thames Water will now face the maximum penalty.
We take very seriously our responsibility to ensure that every water company is delivering for its customers and where they fall short, we do not hesitate to step in to protect customers’ interests.” In March the utility was fined £20.3 million by the Environment Agency for what is being called the “biggest freshwater pollution case”.
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ACE17: Greeley wins “Best of the Best” drinking water taste test.
The event, composed of regional winners from water-tasting competitions across North America, was held at AWWA’s Annual Conference and Exposition (ACE17) in Philadelphia, Pa. Second place in the taste test went to Montpelier Municipal Utilities, Montpelier, Ohio with last year’s winners, the City of Bloomington, Minn taking third place.
The City of Greeley has two conventional water treatment plants that provide drinking water for the 103,000 citizens of Greeley and surrounding communities.
Consequently, Greeley has one of the most robust water systems in Colorado, says AWWA.
An esteemed judging panel rated each water system on its flavor characteristics.
Judges included Andrea Dietrich Monique Durand, engineer with Hazen and Sawyer P.C., and AWWA Public Affairs Council member, Cliff Shrive.
Previous competition winners are Bloomington, Minn. (2016), Big Sky, Mont.
(2012), Greenville, S.C. (2011), Stevens Point, Wis. (2010), Macon (Ga.) Water Authority (2009), Louisville (Ky.) Water Company (2008) and Illinois American Water, Champaign District (2006 and 2005).
Other “Best of the Best” participants in the competition included: Aqua Illinois – Kankakee Plant, Kankakee, Ill.; Brewster Water Dept., Brewster, Mass.
; City Utilities Commission of Corbin, Ky.; Georgetown County Water & Sewer District, Pawleys Island, S.C.; Green Bay Water Utility, Green Bay, Wis.; Huntsville Utilities, Huntsville, Ala.; Lehigh County Authority, Allentown, Pa.; Marshalltown Waterworks, Marshalltown, Iowa; Merchantville – Pennsauken Water Commission, N.J.; Neuse Regional Water & Sewer Authority, Kinston, N.C.; Philadelphia Water Dept., Philadelphia, Pa.; Puerto Rico Aqueduct and Sewer Authority, San Juan, Puerto Rico; San Jacinto River Authority, GRP Division, Conroe, Texas; Spotsylvania County Utilities, Fredricksburg, Va.; Union Hill Water Association, Redmond, Wash.; Village of Cortland, Neb.

Funding for clean water.
In spite of considerable progress in recent years, many people still lack access to essential services including safe water supply and sanitation.
To improve matters, governments need funding.
Women across Asia, Africa and Latin America share their fate.
Many countries, however, lack funding for improving their water infrastructure.
Typically, WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene) programmes are co-funded by various partners, including national governments, service providers, non-governmental organisations, international donor institutions and private households.
It includes data from 75 countries and 25 international agencies.
In some countries (Pakistan and Peru for example), the national budget contributes the largest share to WASH expenditure.
In 2015, 319 million people in sub-Saharan Africa lacked access to improved drinking-water sources.
In spite of this, “aid commitments to the region have declined”, the GLAAS report points out.