rr
for any major public works deve looment for public water supply and wastewater
disposal, funding be included for some expatriate management of the system after
completion.
Funding for training of local personnel, both formally and on the
job, to take on the responsibility of management and operation of the system
should also be included.
Table 6 presents a summary of the adequacy of the water supply, sanitary
disposal
of human waste,
solid waste disposal
and
vector
(rats,
flies,
and
mosquitoes) control problems in the 20 islands surveyed as a part of developing
this health plan.
This represents about 82% of the total population of the
Marshall Islands served by the facilities which were evaluated in this survey.
The adequacy of fresh water supplies in all the outer atolls was mainly
based on approximate sizes and numbers of rainfall catchments and cisterns or
tanks related to the number of people served and the rainfall amount, except for
Enewetak
where
the
sizes
were
measured
and
numbers
determined.
A
water
consumption of 20 gallons per person per day was used for the Marshall Islands.
This
value
is
low because water
is
usually not used
for flushing toilets,
watering lawns or running washing machines etc. and there is partial substitution
of drinking water by the use of coconuts and bottled and canned beverages.
In
spite of low water usage, during low rainfall months water shortages often occur,
especially if there are no reserve or emergency storage tanks or cisterns on the
island.
No sanitary surveys of potable drinking water have been done on the outer
atolls.
Poor sanitary quality on these islands was assessed by observation and
by questioning the health assistant and/or magistrate.
Only 4 of the 20 islands surveyed had adequate reserve or emergency storage
capacity while at least 7 were inadequate to meet present needs, at least not at
20 gallons per person per day.
Ebeye's water usage has been only around 10
gallons per person per day over the last 2 years and they still have to buy water
from Kwajalein Missile Range almost every month.
When the new airport catchment
in Majuro is completed along with the new expanded reservoir about 20 million
gallons per month can be caught and stored which is more than adequate for the
present population.
But in order to adequately deliver that water (in quantity
and quality) the distribution system will have to be repaired and replaced
(possible funding from Community Improvement Grants appropriated by the U.S.
Congress, U.S. Housing and Urban Development Grants, etc.).
The sanitary quality of the potable water systems in Majuro and Ebeye is
questionable. The free residual chlorine level should be tested daily and the
total
coliform bacteriological
test 2 or 3 times weekly.
10
This
increased