Lancang-Mekong Sweet Spring Project brings Lao villagers safe drinking water

VIENTIANE, June 9 (Xinhua) -- China is carrying out the Lancang-Mekong Sweet Spring Project to bring local villagers in northern Laos safe drinking water and to promote socio-economic development, the Chinese Consulate-General in Luang Prabang told Xinhua.

Rural water supply safety has been identified as one of the priorities of water resources cooperation by the six Lancang-Mekong Cooperation (LMC) member countries.

Chinese engineering companies in Laos have accelerated the Lancang-Mekong Sweet Spring project in spite of the COVID-19 pandemic, Li Zhigong, the Chinese consul general in Luang Prabang, told Xinhua on Tuesday.

Since the beginning of 2021, the project team carried out a pilot demonstration in Hatkeep village in Luang Prabang Province, some 250 km north of Lao capital Vientiane, building water intake sites and water supply pipelines, and installing water purification equipments.

The handover ceremony for the pilot project in Hatkeep village was held on May 27 by Nam Ou River Basin Power Co., Ltd., a branch company of PowerChina which undertook the construction. The project ensures safe drinking water for around 2,000 local residents.

Local officials and villagers expressed their gratitude to China's help at the ceremony, saying the Chinese side has cared about and attached great importance to the drinking water problems in the village.

Formerly, the water source of Hatkeep village was gully water, which was often insufficient to meet the supply demand in the dry season. Without water treatment, microorganisms in the water often exceeded the standard level, and diarrhea, vomiting and other diseases always troubled the local communities.

According to the Chinese Consulate-General in Luang Prabang, the Lancang-Mekong Sweet Spring Project aims to enhance the local rural water supply project construction and management capabilities, and to collect experience and technical support for rural water supply safety in the Lancang-Mekong region through technology training and demonstration in Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar.