Water Resources and Urbanization.

Today was the day of resolving water related problem.

Problem and solutions

Water in Phnom Penh is not distributed in a healthy and satisfactory way. Based on the movie clip we saw, some times even the issue of water is becoming one reason for dispute. Phnom Penh is a city surrounded by few villages, some of which are illegal settlers, and nearby theres is a garment factory etc. The slums created by the illegal settlers created a safe haven to tap water pipes illegally for own use or selling it for others. The Phnom Penh Water Services Authority(PPWSA) is unable to fetch a fair revenue for upgrading the water system in the area - most of the settlers are either taping it illegally from the water pipes themselves or buying with premium prices from illegal parties. Since the villagers are not legal settlers, its not known about whether they will be evicted or will stay for long.

With all the above unfair play,we were assigned as PPWSA group to provide safe drinking water for as long as villagers are living in the area.

First we considered the all stakeholders, who are directly or indirectly benefiting from the water projects.

-The NGO are expected to fund part of the project.

-Some 'rich' community members, who are able to cover the cost, can have their own tap water

- Most of the community's members are 'poor' so that there is a need for communal tap

/service point/

- The nearby garment factory can have their own water well, and if they wish to get from our water network(suppose garment factory is not water intensive), we can provide them at a fair price.

- Funding and project implementation.

- ...etc.

My idea about the workshop

I was personally assigned in Services Design within PPWSA. I got to know how the practical water provision is demanding in meeting all the desires of different consumers. The task needs a bit of 'mind twist' to formulate a fair and cheap design that suits everyone.

As a group working in PPWSA, we tried to discuss on things based on our assignments, and comments from peer friends.

In the final presentation, we were introduced to the needs of the other stakeholders. I think, it would have been nice if we had inter-group discussion before the presentation to make the workshop feel a bit more close to practical.