Water and Sanitation Division
Department of Building, Ministry of Construction
Watershed Management for Controlling Municipal Wastewater inSouth East Asia

Current and Future Challenges of Water
Environment and Wastewater Management inMyanmar
Su Nandar Tin
Staff Officer
Water Supply and Sanitation Division
Building Department
13thDecember 2017

OutlineBackground
Organization and Departments
Role of waste water management
Over view of waste water management
Challenges and issues
Require action plan
Concluding remarks2

Background

Background Information
Situated inArea
East to West
North to South
ClimatePopulation
Density
Administrative- South East Asia- 261,228 square miles- 677,000 sq km- 582 miles- 1275 miles- Tropical monsoon (3 seasons )- About 54.6 million ( 2017 )- 80 per sq km- 14 states/divisions- 66 Districts ( 325 Townships )Annual growth rate : 2.02 %Traditional Water Resource : Rivers , natural or
artificial lakes , ponds and underground water
Water pollution caused by : Both industrial andDomestic wastes directly discharge into the waterbody4

Organization and Department

Organizations related to Building Construction
Department of Building, Ministry of Construction• Committee for Construction Project Appraisal• Committee for Construction (Capital)• Committee for the Quality Control of High-Rise Building Construction
Projects (CQHP)

Local Authorities• Yangon City Development Committee• Engineering Department (Building)• High-Rise Inspection Committee• Mandalay City Development Committee• Nay Pyi Taw Development Committee• Town Development Committees
6Wastewater Treatment Related Ministries(Various agencies and department engaged in wastewater sector)
Agency/Department

Ministry/City/Others

Type of Sanitation Facility

Yangon City DevelopmentCommittee

Yangon- Sewerage, septic system, Pit latrinewith slab- Activated sludge wastewater
treatment plant

Naypyitaw City Development
Committee

Naypyitaw- Sewerage, septic system, Pit latrinewith slab
wastewater treatment plant

Mandalay City Development
Committee

Mandalay- Septic tank system- Oxidation pond

Water and Sanitation Division

Construction- Septic tank system

Department of Development
Affairs

Border Affairs-Septic tank system , Pit latrine withslab

Environmental Sanitation Division

Health and Sports- Systematic latrine Construction

Building Department

Department of Health7

Role of waste watermanagement

Role of Waste Water Management
Waste Water Management
Plan: (a) development of city and town sanitation
standard(b) improvement and rationalization ofwastewater disposal system(c) experiences and example set by thetwo major cities
Global awareness : ASEAN'S vision 2020
Own guide line :Myanmar Agenda 21 (1997)
9Over view of waste water
management

Sector of Water Usage in Myanmar
10% 1% 3%

agriculture
municipalities
Industries

86%

hydropower
potential

Total water withdrawal is less than 5% of the renewable resource available
Approximately 91% of the total water withdrawal comes from surface water and9% from groundwater.
Groundwater is mostly used for domestic purposes.
Impact assessments will be needed to ensure that these projects do notcompromise other uses, notably for agriculture.
Myanmar: Urban development and water sector assessment, strategy, and road map.ADB, 2015

Achievement of Selected Millennium Development Goal Targets (%)
Plan and Targets for
Improved
Services

Included inPlan

Coverage
Target(%)
YearAll data represented in this country highlight document is based on country responses to GLAAS questionnaire
unless otherwise stated. COUNTRY HIGHLIGHTS • MYANMAR • GLAAS 2014

Status of Sewage Treatment in Myanmar
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Percentage of population (%)

Conventional seweragesystem25

Septic tank system
20

Pour flush system

15

Fly proof latrines

10

Unsanitary latrine

5No Latrine

0Treatment Facilities
Source – Progress in drinking water and sanitation. Joint monitoring programme 2015.
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Activities of MOC
Water development exhibitions at Head Office of MOC, Naypyitaw

Decentralized Wastewater Treatment System supervised by MOC

Sewage System of Naypyitaw
Sewage System of Mandalay

16

Existing Sewage System of Naypyitaw• 20% of new constructed area usingsewage

treatment plant (Aerobic System)• 80% using Septic Tank (Anaerobic System) and Pit
Latrine with slab
• Sewage collection is combined system• Sewer pipes are directly connected with waste water
treatment plant17

Properties Of Wastewater inlet
Biochemical Oxygen Demand

Situation of sewerage and wastewater
treatment plant in Naypyitaw

250mg/lit(BOD,20* C)
Suspended Solids (SS)

220mg/lit

Total Organic Carbon (TOC)160mg/lit

Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) 500mg/lit

Properties of Treated Water
Biochemical Oxygen Demand

20mg/lit(BOD,20* C)
Suspended Solids (SS)

30mg/lit

Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) 60mg/litSewerage SystemSewage Treatment Plant

18

EQUALIZATION TANK FOR SEWAGE COLLECTIONAERATION TANKTREATED WATER COLLECTION OR
RETENTION POND

19

Future Plan of Sewage Treatment Plant in Naypyitaw

SewageTreatment Plant

Current Wastewater Management in Mandalay

Main content of system are
Number of Septic Tank - over 35000
Type of System – Oxidation
Pond(Facultative + Aerobic Pond)
Daily Wastewater discharge – 15000 gal/day

Source- Mandalay City Development Committee)

Proposed pilot sewerage and wastewater
treatment system in Mandalay

Inner City Area (Between 26th ×35th & 71st × 78th)
Pilot Area (Between 35th × 37th 71st × 78th)(Source- Mandalay City Development Committee)

EQUITY IN FINANCE
Funds are reported to be largely directed to drinking-water services,
however, the number of un-served is greater for sanitation services..

Population with access to improved
sanitation facilities
Disaggregated WASH expenditure
Progress on Drinking-Water and Sanitation – Update 2015, WHO/UNICEF

Challenges and issues

Challenges and issues.
Serious shortage of adequate sanitation infrastructure likeindustrial waste treatment plant
Weakness in wastewater treatment and water management
sector are limited manpower and technical supporting
Budget limitation; Finance Arrangement
investment/Asset Managementfor

Effective

Difficulty in the change of awareness to practice amongcommunities
Less Sustainability due to low cost technology
25

Require Action Plans

Require Action Plan
Playing as an important role in waste water management for this –Participation of stakeholders ,concerned Authorities, Companies,
Public & CSOs
Collaboration between ministries with best management practice; toenhance organizational capacity and effectiveness of water resources
coordination system
Enhancement and consolidation the existing systems; function theoperation, maintenance and rehabilitation of facilities safely, reliably
and efficiently
Enforcement on the guidelines; using minimum sewage effluent
guidelines and water quality criteria and monitoring on Physicaloperations
Providing the necessary test equipment and Build sewage treatment
facilities and in accordance with national policies and capabilities
Capacity building at both government and private sectors

Concluding and Remarks

27Concluding Remarks

Although water resources in Myanmar are generally
abundant, localized pollution threatens to render water sources
unsuitable for future or downstream uses. This threat results fromthe virtual absence of any form of treatment of domestic orindustrial wastewater and the failure to conduct environmental
impact assessments for major development projects.
So, we need to establish a beneficial framework andeffective mechanism for managing, developing and protecting
water and related resources in an environmental and economicalsound manner in order to meet the needs of the people ofMyanmar.
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