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Water in the Ger Districts

Those people in the city of Ulaanbaatar who dont live in an apartment, live in the Ger districts which are growing yearly on the outskirts of the city. The city authorities are struggling to keep up with the rapid growth as more and more people from the countryside and other towns come to the capital looking for work.

Water and sanitation is a major problem in these sub-urban Ger areas. Homes do not have water piped in so families have to buy water from a central water station established in each district.

It is often the job of children to haul 40 litres of water for 1-2 kilometers over icy and frozen rough roads for their family's needs. The water is collected in a container very like the old N.Z. cream can, which was used in the days before milk tankers called to collect the milk from N.Z. dairy farms.

Because water has to be bought and hauled each day it is valued and used very frugally with the average daily consumption estimated at 5-10 litres per person. Just to compare, 1 flush of a Kiwi toilet uses 10-12 litres!!!!

This is just one of World Visions projects, to repair and construct new water stations in the areas where we are working. 50% of the water is pumped by hand and 50% by electricity.