Approximately 460,000 people in Al-Hasakah Governorate rely on Alouk water station, which goes out of service frequently, as their primary source of potable water. Additionally, around 500,000 people served by water trucking supplied from station sources, including six camps. Other vital services also rely on Alouk, like healthcare facilities in Al-Hasakah. More than 140,000 IDPs and refugees residing in 11 formal and informal camps with suboptimal living standards. In the absence of reliable clean water, communities have few other options to cover their daily needs of water primarily by purchasing water privately sold at a high cost with potential for contamination and use of unsafe sources. Some news received on households digging their own wells to find water desperately.

Water shortages impose serious public health risks, including outbreaks of water-borne and water-related diseases such as diarrhea, hepatitis, and skin diseases which might eventually further challenge the weakened health system in NES by more than a decade of crisis.

This report summarizes the water testing results and the epidemiological situation of diarrheal diseases in NES and putting necessary recommendations to avoid any water-borne diseases in the area.

Source: World Health Organization