page_title: Water supply and sanitation in Laos
hierarchical_section_title: Water supply and sanitation in Laos
caption_attribution_description: English: Map of the Mekong river basin. Intended to replace older map here. Made using Natural Earth data.
context_page_description: Laos is a nation with plentiful surface water and broad rivers, but outside of cities there is little infrastructure to make that water clean and accessible. Very little improvement has been made since the end of the Laotian Civil War in 1975, especially compared to peer nations such as Thailand. By 2015, 76% of Laotians nationwide were estimated to have access to “improved” water, while 71% were estimated to have access to “improved” sanitation.
  National-average numbers for sanitation obscure some important internal variation between city and rural. Most Laotians get their water from surface flows close to their dwellings, so infrastructure is minimal. Outside of the cities, women and small children are often tasked with carrying drinking water by hand from rural collection sites, which impacts educational attainment, economic growth, and rural quality of life.
  In the capital, Vientiane, aging sewage systems work poorly and are overdue for infrastructural improvement. Moreover, there is an ongoing gap between rural and town dwellers, with 60% fewer rural people having access to sanitation, and 38% fewer having access to drinking water.
context_section_description: Laos is a nation with plentiful surface water and broad rivers, but outside of cities there is little infrastructure to make that water clean and accessible. Very little improvement has been made since the end of the Laotian Civil War in 1975, especially compared to peer nations such as Thailand. By 2015, 76% of Laotians nationwide were estimated to have access to “improved” water (water not taken directly from natural flows), while 71% were estimated to have access to “improved” sanitation (access to a sewage system more advanced than simple latrine).
  National-average numbers for sanitation obscure some important internal variation between city and rural. Most Laotians get their water from surface flows close to their dwellings, so infrastructure is minimal. Outside of the cities, women and small children are often tasked with carrying drinking water by hand from rural collection sites, which impacts educational attainment, economic growth, and rural quality of life.
  In the capital, Vientiane, aging sewage systems work poorly and are overdue for infrastructural improvement. Moreover, there is an ongoing gap between rural and town dwellers, with 60% fewer rural people having access to sanitation, and 38% fewer having access to drinking water.  An estimated 23% of Laotians nationwide still habitually defecate on open ground, allowing their waste to wash into rivers and canals. This persistent reality affects agriculture and natural ecosystems as well as human health.
caption: Map of Mekong River–it covers a wide area of Laos and nearby region
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