Rapid growth in Western Bahr-El Ghazal and Warrap states over the past few years has put a huge strain on its meagre water and sanitation facilities.

Less than 40 per cent of Western Bahr El-Ghazal residents useimproved water sources and only 9 per cent use sanitary means of waste disposal, according to the 2006 Sudan Household Health Survey.

The demand for clean water in the state capital Wau, one of the largest towns in Southern Sudan, is far beyond the capacity of the Urban Water Supply Office, according to town Area Manager Joseph Akol Aniel.

"We are producing only 2,400 cubic metres of water per day. Based on the recently conducted census, we need to be producing over 20,000 cubic metres. We simply do not have the capacity to supply enough water," Mr. Aniel said.

While the local water treatment plant was established in 1940 to serve a population of approximately 2,000, the number of residents has now burgeoned to 150,000.

The shortfall is similar in neighbouring Warrap State, where only 2 per cent of its 970,000 residents have access to sanitary facilities and more than 60 per cent use improved water resources.

Joakin Ajou, acting director of Rural Water Supply and Sanitation, Government of Southern Sudan Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation,said some areas in the state were without access to clean water or sanitation due to their remoteness.

"People are exposed to different diseases because they do not have access to basic hygiene and sanitation facilities like latrines," the director said.

To mitigate the health threat posed by inadequate water and sanitation, various development agencies are working on these services in Western Bahr El-Ghazal and Warrap states.

Last year, UNICEF signed a three-year water sanitation and hygiene cooperation programme with the Government of Southern Sudan. So far, the UN agency has set up 190 water points, providing improved drinking sources for 165,000 people in the region, and sought to educate people about hygiene.

"An estimated 700,000 people have been reached with hygiene messages through radio, billboards and jingles," said UNICEF Water and Environmental Sanitation Officer Simon Bol Gatwech.

Selam Tezera, of the non-governmental organization International Relief and Development (IRD) in Warrap, noted that the organization spent over $200,000 on state water and sanitation programmes in 2009.

"IRD drilled four boreholes, six pit latrines and rehabilitated 16 non-functional water points. We also trained 150 participants from Twic and Gogrial West counties of Warrap State," Ms. Tzera said.

Wau Area Manager Aniel said the town would soon have a new water plant funded and implemented by USAID.

"The new water treatment plant is expected to produce an additional 6,000 cubic metres per day, bringing the total amount of water supplied daily to 8,000 cubic metres," Mr. Aniel said.

Work on the new water plant, which will cost an estimated $4.5 million, began in early April, with an expected completion date of June 2011.

Population figures are from the 2008 Sudan Population and Housing Census.