China-Kyrgyzstan Cooperation in Science and Technology: Distributed Water Purification System Guaranteeing Drinking Water Safety in Rural Areas of Kyrgyzstan

Popularization and application of low-cost intelligent water purification technology in Central Asia

23 11, 2021

[video:发布会视频]

The latest update on water purification project fudned by ANSO, including videos and letter of appreciation from beneficiaries

On November 17, 2021, a press conference of ANSO collaborative research project entitled "Distributed Water Purification Station System for Drinking Water Safety in Rural Regions of Kyrgyzstan" was held in Bishkek, presenting research achievements and sharing experience of transnational and cross-sectoral cooperation. The conference was jointly organized by the Department of Drinking Water Supply and Sewerage Development (DDWSSD) under the State Agency for Architecture, Construction, Housing and Public Utilities under the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic and the CAS Research Center for Ecology and Environment of Central Asia (RCEECA) (Bishkek).

Adyl Zhunus Uulu, Kyrgyzstan parliament member, Toktoshev Askarbek, Advisor to the Director General of the State Agency for Architecture, Construction, Housing and Public Utilities, Dzhumataev Murat, President of National academy of science of Kyrgyz Republic, LI Baojie, Minister Counsellor of the Chinese Embassy in Kyrgyzstan and local representatives attended the conference on site. CAO Jinghua, Executive Director of the Alliance of International Science Organizations (ANSO) Secretariat, CHEN Xi, Director-General of CAS RCEECA, LI Yaoming, Director of CAS RCEECA Bishkek Center joined the conference by virtual format. The press conference was hosted by Momunov Sayidin, Director of DDWSSD.

The conference presented the progress of the water purification program, which was funded by ANSO and implemented in remote rural areas of Kyrgyzstan. The ZLIB-R1-500 water purification equipment installed in the demonstration sites is able to purify any polluted or even slightly salty water. Combined with the filtration and adsorption system, the equipment can effectively remove harmful substances such as bacteria, sediments and heavy metal ions in the water, as well as carcinogens such as chloroform and fluorine that cannot be removed by conventional methods. More than 15000 people in 11 rural villages of Kyrgyzstan have benefited from the project for accessing to cleaning water.

CAO Jinghua, Executive Director of the ANSO Secretariat, said that the achievements gained by the multinational project team was remarkable, given that the global pandemic was still severe.

CAO pointed out that the distributed water purification program is a strong complement to the centralized water supply scheme in the town areas of Kyrgyzstan, which provides alternative solutions to the drinking water problem in the vast rural areas. The government may consider attracting commercial enterprises into the construction, operation and maintenance of the program, so as to achieve large-scale operation, reduce costs and guarantee sustainable development. After expressing his gratitude to the Kyrgyz Republic for its support to the smooth implementation of ANSO project, CAO indicated that the project is crucial to prompting people-to-people exchanges, serving as the foundation of all kinds of collaborations. Should the project be included into Sino-Kyrgyz intergovernmental cooperation, it will be beneficial to attain resources in many ways. CAO made a special emphasis that this project is a continuance of CAS’s continuous support for the work in this field for many years.

Toktoshev Askarbek, Advisor to the Director General of the State Agency for Architecture, Construction, Housing and Public Utilities, highly appreciated the achievements of the China-Kyrgyzstan cooperation project on drinking water. The issue of drinking water supply for local residents has always been the focus of the Kyrgyz government, as only 30% of around 1800 rural settlements in Kyrgyzstan have achieved centralized water supply so far. The purification system increased the water quality more than double in rural areas and allow local residents to access to high-quality water that fully meets the hygienic standards.

Dzhumataev Murat, President of National Academy of Science of Kyrgyz Republic, reviewed the scientific and technological cooperation between CAS and Kyrgyz National Academy of Sciences. He mentioned that rural drinking water safety is an issue of sustainable livelihood and people’s well-being. The successful installation of water purification stations in remote rural areas can be regarded as a model of scientific and technological cooperation between Kyrgyzstan and China. Dzhumataev expressed hope for further strengthen cooperation with CAS and carry out deeper cooperation based on the ANSO platform.

On behalf of Ambassador DU Dewen, LI Baojie, Minister Counsellor of the Chinese Embassy in Kyrgyzstan, said that when the Ambassador Du Dewen talked with local villagers in Dostuk town, the first demonstration site of water purification system in Kyrgyzstan, the villagers spoke highly of the water purification project. Dostuk means "friendship" in Kyrgyz and the water purification system constructed by China in Dostuk village reflects the high degree of friendly relations between the two countries. Providing clean drinking water to remote rural areas is an important part of China's poverty alleviation efforts. China is willing to expand cooperation in clean drinking water and improve the drinking water situation in rural Kyrgyzstan.

CHEN Xi, Secretary of the Party group of Xinjiang branch of CAS and Director-General of RCEECA, introduced the basis and progress of early cooperation of drinking water safety project at the conference, aiming to provide solutions and technical demonstration for drinking water supply in remote rural areas of Kyrgyzstan, and hoped that Bishkek branch would establish intelligent, low-cost, high efficiency and small-sized centralized water supply complete sets, which advanced monitoring technology can bring healthy and clean drinking water to the people in Kyrgyzstan.

LI Yaoming, Chinese director of RCEECA Bishkek Center and Principal Investigator of the ANSO project, systematically introduced the project and relevant situation of international scientific and technological cooperation on drinking water safety. He also gave suggestions for the follow-up development of the project.

Representatives and experts of all parties answered press questions on the spot. The conference was followed by a field trip to the water purification station in Dostuk by a group of journalists from local media.

Resource ：LI Yaoming