PHNOM PENH, April 5 (Xinhua) -- Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen on Wednesday inaugurated a new water treatment plant in southeastern part of capital Phnom Penh, saying that the plant would help meet a growing demand for clean water in Phnom Penh and nearby Kandal province.
The plant, called Niroth 2, is the second phase in a massive water treatment facility built by the listed state-run Phnom Penh Water Supply Authority (PPWSA) with a cost of 61 million U.S. dollars in which 36 million U.S. dollars was a loan from the French Development Agency and the remaining amount was covered by the PPWSA.
The prime minister said the first plant has been producing 130,000 cubic meters of potable water per day since 2013 and the second plant is also capable to purify 130,000 cubic meters of water per day.
"The new plant will enable the PPWSA to expand its supply of clean water to various regions in Phnom Penh and Takhmao town in (southern) Kandal province," he said.
The plant was constructed and supervised by two French companies, Vinci Construction and SAFEGE, respectively in a period of 30 months, he added.
To date, the PPWSA has five water treatment plants with the total capacity to produce 560,000 cubic meters of potable water per day, said Industry and Handicrafts Minister Cham Prasidh, adding that around 85 percent of Phnom Penh residents now have access to clean water.
He said the demand for drinking water in Phnom Penh has rapidly increased, and about 14,000 new households have been supplied clean water a year since 2004.
According to the minister, the government has set out a strategy to enable roughly 90 percent of the residents living in all municipalities and towns across the kingdom to have access to clean water by 2025.
