Total Renewable Water Resources: 60.9 cu km (1997)

Freshwater Withdrawal:   24.65 cu km/yr (2% domestic, 1% industrial, 98% agricultural)

Per Capita Freshwater Withdrawal: 5,104 cu m/yr (2000)

Access to improved sources of drinking water: 83% of population

Access to improved sanitation facilities: 98% of population

Non-conventional Sources of Water

 

The volume of treated industrial and domestic wastewater is estimated at 0.025 km3/year. For the period 1990-94, agricultural drainage water was estimated at about 5.4 km3/year on average. Water from both sources is mixed in the collector-drainage canals. About 2.35 km3/year, or 44% of the total, return to rivers, mainly the Amu Darya River. About 2.97 km3/year, or 55% of the total, goes to natural depressions, mainly Lake Sarakamysh in the north of the country on the border with Uzbekistan. The remainder, about 0.08 km3/year (1% of the total), is directly re-used for irrigation. 

 

Lakes and Dams

 

There are 18 artificial reservoirs with a total capacity of about 2.89 km3: 8 on the Murghab River; 3 on the Tedzhen River; 3 on the Atrek River; and 4 on the Kara Kum Canal. The largest reservoir is the Hauz-Khan Reservoir on the Kara Kum Canal with a total capacity of 0.875 km3. All the reservoirs were been designed and constructed mainly for irrigation purposes, and are affected by heavy siltation. 

 

The gross hydropower potential of the country is estimated at 5.8 gigawatt hours (GWh), while the total installed capacity was about 0.7 GWh in 1993. The construction of the Puli Hatum reservoir on the Tedzhen River on the border between Iran and Turkmenistan has been planned but is awaiting agreement between the two countries. Its total capacity would be 1.3 km3, and it has been designed for flood control, hydropower generation, and flow regulation purposes. 

 

The outflow of drainage water has led to the creation of artificial lakes in natural depressions. The largest one is Lake Sarakamysh with a storage capacity of about 8 km3. A major environmental issue in Turkmenistan is the permanent accumulation of pollutant salt in these lakes, as this leads to the degradation of their flora and fauna. 

 

The World Bank reports that at least 80 countries have water shortages and 2 billion people lack access to clean water. More disturbingly, the World Health Organization has reported that 1 billion people lack enough water to simply meet their basic needs, unfortunately in many countries water is scarce or contaminated.

Pure Aqua provides wide range of filtration and economical solutions based on the Turkmenistan's water resources.

Turkmenistan's main water resources are:

• Surface water is water from river, lake or fresh water wetland, which can be treated using different methods, such as Ultrafiltration Systems, Brackish Water RO.
• Desalination can be used for water from ocean, or sea source, which can be treated using Seawater Reverse Osmosis Systems; Desalination Systems.
• Ground Water or brackish water is from water located in the pore space of soil and rock “Borehole well”, which can be treated using Reverse Osmosis Systems, Chemical Dosing, UV Water Sterilizers.
• Government water supply, which could have high level of hardness or high level of chlorine, can be treated with Water Softener Systems, Media Water Filters.

Water Challenges in Turkmenistan
Due to its arid desert climate, low precipitation, high temperatures, years of warfare, and decades of economic mismanagement, Turkmenistan has been ranked as one of the world’s most water-insecure countries. The quality of water has continued to deteriorate in Turkmenistan and has brought an increase in ethnic conflicts over the limited water resources that are available. The degradation of Turkmenistan’s water supply can be attributed to two occurrences, which are issues of water conservation and pollution within drainage and sewage water, including the rising issue of climate change and rapid population growth.

Pure Aqua manufactures water treatment systems that meet the World Health Organization requirements.