A/HRC/42/47/Add.4
polluted, meaning water from it could not be consumed even after conventional treatment
(A/HRC/33/49/Add.1, para 50).
43.
PLANAPS outlines the health impacts of insufficiently treated water that suffers
contamination from, inter alia, agriculture, industry and wastewater. Specifically,
PLANAPS mentions that, “the greater part of [surface waters]” are too contaminated to be
considered a treatable source of drinking water. 10 PLANAPS details a baseline study on
human health covering a number of health indicators including handwashing with soap,
inadequate sanitation and unsafe water sources. It notes that “[t]he results obtained confirm
that there is still a long way to go in terms of drinking water and sanitation in El
Salvador.”11 In the light of the above, PLANAPS recommends that monitoring of ground
water sources, consisting of periodic sampling, should be carried out, especially in those
places that are preselected as possible sources of drinking water. PLANAPS’ strategy to
monitor and improve the quality of water sources for human consumption and sanitation
includes the program for the implementation of monitoring plans and monitoring of the
water quality of the sources; the establishment of protection perimeters of water sources for
population use; and the program for the implementation of monitoring plans of domestic
wastewater.
44.
The Government explained in its reply to the follow-up questionnaire that ANDA is
in charge of providing water treatment services and conducting a strict quality control in
water sources and in distribution systems it manages. Laboratories conducting quality
controls are certified by various national and international standards. Furthermore, the
Government recognised that intermittent water supply is one of the main problems for
ANDA and rural systems throughout the country, due to obsolete water systems and their
high leakage levels, as well as the decrease in the quantity of water at sources. The
Government also referenced that the Technical Regulatory Agency (Organismo
Salvadoreño de Reglamentación Técnica) is responsible for issuing regulations on water
and sanitation that must be complied with by system operators. Such compliance is
monitored by MINSAL's Environmental Health Directorate. The Government indicated that
MARN has implemented a water quality control system for surface water bodies through a
water quality index which qualifies water quality as excellent, good, moderate, or bad. The
information obtained is used to define the most suitable type of treatment to purify surface
water and to determine the possible uses of water.
45.
The Special Rapporteur notes that PLANAPS includes measures to ensure the
reduction of environmental pollution by taking efforts such as analysing water quality,
limiting socio-economic activities impacting water, and monitoring discharges of domestic
wastewater. He also noted the efforts from MARN to implement a water quality control
system for surface water in order to define the most suitable type of treatment to purify
surface water and to determine the possible uses of water as well as the recovery
programme for urban rivers. He is, however, concerned that the Government did not
critically and specifically target and address the pollution of water by pesticides and that
such measures will not be able to overcome existing pollution from water sources and
irregularities in water supplies which deeply affect drinking water quality and availability.
Taking into account the negative impacts that water sources suffered from agricultural
activities, it is necessary to specifically target such risks within its policies and adopt both
preventive and reparative measures to address contamination by pollutants.
LIMITED PROGRESS: The Special Rapporteur reiterates his recommendation and
calls on the Government to conduct a critical assessment of the impact of
environmental and agrochemical pollutants, and of interruptions in water supply, on
the quality of water for human consumption and of the risks to health.
10
Government of El Salvador, “Plan Nacional de Agua Potable y Saneamiento, Resume
Ejecutivo Septiembre 2017”, September 2017, at pg. 19.
11
12
Ibid..
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