For some reason when many of us think of Asia, we think of a very water-rich place. Lush rivers and huge seas. Great oceans and beaches. All those things are there, but Asia is one of the driest continents on earth. Sadly, it is also one where water pollution is very high.

It is one of the most polluted continents in the world when it comes to its waters.

Today we would like to explore some of the most important reasons for it. In particular, we will focus on Vietnam and Cambodia. Let’s go over some of the details.

The region of South East Asia

South East Asia is known for its tropical climate. It has a very long coastline that extends throughout the region. You can find mountain terrain and plateaus.

Regarding inland bodies of water, we can find here shallow seas.

Both Vietnam and Cambodia are located on the inland part of this sub-continent. They are considered to be part of the Asian continent. Then there are the island countries that make up the rest of this region.

This area is well known as a tourist destination. It is famous around the world for its natural beauties and landscapes. They offer a great variety of activities. The cultural side of the tourism industry is also strong. Especially in Cambodia with Angkor Wat and other such structures.

Buddhist culture is dominant here. That means that customs may be strange to you. Quite unlike anything you may have experienced elsewhere.

All of these are great things that make both Vietnam and Cambodia great spots. So how come the water pollution is so bad?

Let’s try to make sense of this question with a few details.

Two main sources of water pollution

In general, we can find two main culprits for this type of pollution around the world. Those are:

Poor management of sewage. Proper sewage management is a huge endeavor. It requires a great deal of investment and effort. These are not very rich countries and both lack in the infrastructure required to handle sewage in a proper way. This is a very big factor when it comes to water pollution. Sewage will go directly to any natural body of water since water finds its way always. This brings the consequence of high pollution levels that will not be improved any time soon. It will take a long time to correct this. There is no way to make real progress unless these countries start to deal with sewage. If that is not resolved the pollution will always return. No matter the clean-up efforts. Dumping of solid wastes. Solid waste management is another important source of water pollution. It is not easy to deal with the volume of waste that an urban environment generates. That is always the case in any part of the world. In underdeveloped countries, this problem is much worse though, because they lack the resources to take care of waste in a proper manner.

Both at the state and private levels this is a great concern.

The state is to be equipped with the tools to handle the garbage that is produced daily. This means trucks, manpower, processing plants, and all the other elements.

On the other hand, there needs to be regulation to ensure that private companies are doing their part. Maybe the public aspect is handled, but that is of no real consequence if the private aspect is not on par too.

Regulations of this sort can be very hard to implement. Often it is private companies that hold a lot of power over legislators. This happens everywhere in the world. Their interest is towards their own business, not the environment. That means that they will use a lot of their resources to prevent legislation that forces them to take care of these problems.

It would be costly for them and may disrupt their operations. It is much cheaper to just remain the way they are operating.

If these two concerns are not addressed it is impossible to put a dent on water pollution. We are going to take a look now at some of the effects this type of pollution can have on the environment and the population of Vietnam and Cambodia.

Impacts on the environments

Obviously those changes are devastating the environments : landscapes, increase of diseases in some areas.

Landscapes change

Pollution of this sort will destroy ecosystems and change them. It may turn whole lands into deserts. It will also render the waters undrinkable and even unable to sustain life. In these last places, you would not even be recommended to swim. That would have a great impact on tourism as well.

Global Warming

Global warming will certainly be increased by water pollution. We do not know the whole extent of the problem, but there is a scientific consensus that it is a real phenomenon, and that it is affected by water pollution.

Spread of disease

It seems obvious when we think about it. Having all sorts of contaminants in the waters of your country will help the spread of horrible diseases. This is a real concern in Vietnam especially, where a slew of diseases related to this kind of pollution is affecting the population more and more.

What can we do as expats ?

This is a big concern for Cambodia, Vietnam and the whole of southeast Asia. If improvements are to be made a real effort is required. It will take a multidimensional approach to solve this. State officials, legislators, and private companies would need to be actively involved in the process. This may seem far fetched, but it is possible. It has happened in other places around the world. It all starts with creating a public consciousness about the issue. Many expats are choosing to come to South East Asia and mostly Cambodia and Vietnam to work as volunteers. If you want to involve time to work for an NGO to clean some part of the country. Choosing to do some volunteering or internship in Cambodia for tourists travelling in South East Asia. Working for an organisation or a school as an internship expats are choice expat are taking to help those countries.

The general public must be made aware of the dangers and possible upsides of having clean water. If public perception moves in that direction it can put pressure on the rest of society to act.