Uzbekistan Country Gender Assessment: Update

Water Supply and Sanitation

1. Context

Uzbekistan lies in one of the most arid regions in Central asia.⁷⁵ the country inherited a
well-developed water supply and sanitation (WSS) infrastructure, but the system is outdated, damaged by corrosion, operating inefficiently, and is badly in need of repair, not operating efficiently. there is little continuity in water services, and insufficient pressure in pipelines. the urban and rural areas differ in access to safe drinking water. In regions deficient in drinking and irrigation water (certain districts in Kashkadarya, Jizzakh, Syrdarya, Khorezm, tashkent regions, and the Republic of Karakalpakstan), the situation can be challenging. For example, reports
on the Western Uzbekistan Water Supply System development project state that 35% of households in Karakalpakstan have an acute and growing need for drinking water.⁷⁶

Most of the rural population in the surveyed areas relies on water from shallow well pumps, which is limited, seasonal, and, for the most part, irregular and of extremely poor quality.

a few households pay for private boreholes and supply water to their neighbors. Users incur a variety of costs to cope with poor service. For example,1.5% of households in Karakalpakstan buy drinking water from private water purification facilities (average cost = SUM10,000
per 10 liters). Five percent of households purchase water from water carriers (average cost of delivery = SUM10,000–SUM20,000 per cubic meter), and 85% of households buy containers for water. associated expenditures are often equally high in absolute terms and are not subsidized. However, spending on water for drinking and domestic purposes is rather small for all surveyed households in Karakalpakstan, totaling about 5% of average household
expenditures. piped water, as well as vendor services (1%) and bottled water (1%) (footnote 78). table 4 shows the rural and urban dynamics of accessing safe drinking water and pipe sewerage systems in 2014–2016.

2.