Following a recent inspection of the country’s water system, North Korean authorities in some regions of the country have concluded that many sources of water are unsafe for drinking. The results of the inspection have led many North Koreans to worry that waterborne diseases will spread even more.
A source in North Korea told Daily NK on Wednesday that disease control authorities in South Pyongan Province and North and South Hwanghae provinces recently carried out a water quality inspection of the regions’ water and drainage systems, groundwater, rivers and streams.
“They got a result so terrible it’s beyond words,” the source said. “Not even 10% of the water is drinkable.”
The results reconfirmed suspicions that water and drainage system suffers from serious contamination, he continued, adding, “People are worrying that waterborne diseases will spread even more because of this.”
Part of the issue is North Korea’s lack of water purifying chemicals. The country’s water purification facilities are obsolete, so there is little anyone can do right now, the source claimed.
In fact, acute intestinal infections, a waterborne disease, have reportedly spread in South Hwanghae Province and South Pyongan Province starting last month.
The source said the party and disease control authorities are supervising and enforcing directives to strictly process sewage according to disease control regulations.
“They are compelling everyone to boil water before it is consumed at home, in childcare facilities, through food services, and at construction sites,” he said.
Many people are criticizing the authorities for simply enforcing policies while taking no proper measures to improve basic infrastructure and equipment. The source said some North Koreans are complaining that the authorities seem to be trying to shift the cause of the recent outbreak of waterborne diseases onto local people.
“If they carried out water quality inspections of reservoirs and wells, the party and government should work to provide safe water, but instead they are just passing this off to the people,” the source said.
“They just keep lecturing people as if the outbreak of infectious disease happened because the people have little knowledge of sanitation,” he continued, adding, “[The leadership] is openly saying that the people are getting sick because they are ignorant. Most people are not happy about that.”
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