Apr 16 2010

Suggestions For Kazakhstan – Part V

Category: KazakhstanChrisM @ 11:10 pm

It is entirely possible that this post should be titled “Suggestions for the people that specifically look after the water supply to the blocks of flats in our area” rather than “Suggestions For Kazakhstan etc. etc.”, however I do know that people living in other areas of Astana (and certainly more rural areas of Kazakhstan in general) find this subject to be a matter of concern… Put simply, the supply of water needs to be monitored more closely. We don’t give plain tap water to our cats, let alone drink the stuff ourselves. The reason for the water (now less occasionally, admittedly) going orangey/browny is normally that some work is being done with pipes elsewhere in Astana, and that once the pollution has been run through the taps, all will be back to normal. I know of other people living in this city that don’t even brush their teeth in anything other than bottled/boiled water. This makes sense when you think of the ease with which diseases could enter our bloodstream when brushing our gums, however we have not yet decided to go that far. If contractors or maintenance companies (as opposed to some sort of municipal water company) is/are involved, perhaps closer monitoring/regulation is required. Properly enforced oversight or legal ramifications is needed, not just yet another layer of paperwork/stamps/”fines” to be paid. There are some truly revolting theories online as to reasons for the occasional colouring of water that can be observed in Astana, especially from ex-pats/people involved in the industry, but most of these sources were written a few years ago now.
Since we started using a water cooler type setup in our flat (and therefore had some other person deliver huge containers of clean water, rather than transport five litre bottles of water ourselves), I can’t really complain about the physical effort involved to ensure our drinking/cooking/pet/child related H2O needs are met, but when it comes to a shower or bath, I can’t help feeling a little repulsed when the water comes out anything other than clear.
Am I alone in feeling these concerns?

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2 Responses to “Suggestions For Kazakhstan – Part V”

  1. KZBlog says:

    I have to say that our water is very rarely orange or brown, but we never use it either to drink with. Especially odd since both you and I live in newer buildings so our pipes should be new and clean and shiny. I think unclean water is one of those things people have just gotten used to. And possibly given that Kazakhs tend to be very strict about dirt and cleanliness, no one would ever drink water from the tap even if it was clean. Although in Almaty most people I know do use tap water for tea or coffee or whatnot.

  2. ChrisM says:

    I know the pipes originally used in our building were cheap and therefore didn’t last very long before rusting, breaking and causing pressure and pollution problems. Apparently, the new pipes are much better. We’ll have to wait another three years and compare them I guess…
    More moans suggestions involving water coming very soon to this blog, as we received a lovely notification from our soon to be ex-maintenance company.