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8648277 
Journal Article 
Current status and safety strategies of drinking water provision in the rural area of Rakhine State, Myanmar 
Yang, W; Yuan, Q; Wang, W; Cheng, Y; Zhou, C; Ying, Y; Meng, Y; Xu, D; Luan, F 
2020 
Huanjing Gongcheng Xuebao / Chinese Journal of Environmental Engineering
ISSN: 1673-9108 
14 
8 
2112-2122 
Chinese 
In this study, the current status of source water in the rural area of Rakhine state, Myanmar, was investigated with feasible strategies customized to address the challenges encountered in water supply. The filed investigation reflected that in the rural area of Rakhine source water is mainly derived from natural ponds. In addition, Rakhine state is located in the tropical area with an abundant and concentrated rainfall during the rainy season, while the dry season lasts for a long time with considerable evaporation rate, resulting in a disproportional temporal distribution of water quantity in ponds. According to the measurement of the pond water samples, the turbidity and color of pond water were high during the rainy season, while the concentrations of aluminum, manganese, and iron exceeded the World Health Organization's drinking water standards during dry season. It showed that the ponds in the investigated area generally lack necessary ecological interception, protection, and maintenance, which could not effectively decrease the nonpoint source pollution. The above mentioned results suggested that the local environmental and quality of life were severely affected due to the lack of drinking water supply with sufficient quantity and high quality. Considering local social and economic development levels and the local habits of villagers, the onsite ecological purification scheme of "pond-ditch-vegetative buffer zone" was put forward, which is suitable for rainy and dry seasons in tropical areas. This multi-barrier approach can effectively intercept and mitigate the surface and subsurface runoff, while it can also increase storage space of the system, and thereby expanding water conservation capacity, and strengthening the self-purification function of natural ecosystems. Finally, a promising water purification process configuration with merits of low maintenance and low energy consumption was proposed to ensure the safety of local drinking water supply. © 2020, Science Press. All right reserved. 
Drinking water; Ecological purification; Rakhine state; Water quantity and quality