Drinking water management for Mongolia
Together with project partners in Mongolia, Bau Bildung Sachsen – a construction training provider based in Saxony, Germany – is using curricula, teaching materials and training activities to deliver expertise in all matters relating to drinking water and integrated water resource management.
Ceremonial handover of the drinking water treatment training facility by managing directors Dr. Ulf Brandt, bau msr, and Dr. Uwe Strehle, Bau Bildung Sachsen, to the Institute of Engineering and Technology (IET) in Ulaanbaatar
The Mongolian press is following the German-Mongolian drinking water and water resource management project with great interest. The project is being implemented on the German side by bau msr GmbH and Bau Bildung Sachsen e. V.
In October 2022, the ceremonial – and official – handover of the drinking water treatment training facility to the Institute of Engineering and Technology (IET) by managing directors Dr. Ulf Brandt, bau msr GmbH, and Dr. Uwe Strehle, Bau Bildung Sachsen, took place in the Mongolian capital of Ulaanbaatar, and the press used the opportunity to report extensively on the project.
Mongolian press interviewing project manager Phillipp Stephan of Bau Bildung Sachsen
Project framework and project partner responsibilities
The project is enabling Bau Bildung Sachsen e. V. and bau msr GmbH to contribute to the development of integrated water resource management in Mongolia.
To support this, bau msr GmbH developed a fully functional training facility for drinking water treatment. The Saxony-based company designed the system as a decentralised and modular drinking water treatment and disinfection facility, produced it in Germany and commissioned it at the Mongolian training partner’s site. Construction in Mongolia took place in May 2022. The specialist teachers were trained during the successful test operation of the facility.
This demonstration facility is a central point of reference for all initial and continuing training measures on the topic of drinking water in Mongolia.
Bau Bildung Sachsen developed tailored curricula and teaching materials on the subject of drinking water treatment and disinfection. These teaching materials were translated into Mongolian. The Mongolian training partner, the Institute of Engineering and Technology (IET) in Ulaanbaatar, has integrated the newly developed training modules into the syllabus and teachers are using them in their training activities.
The drinking water project is being funded via develoPPP.de by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).
Training of drinking water experts
Bau Bildung Sachsen is training IET teachers to become experts in drinking water management. The teachers are familiarised with and learn how to apply procedures and technologies involved in the supply of clean and disinfected drinking water in buildings.
Using the knowledge gained, the IET will then run theoretical and, first and foremost, also practical qualifications for tradespeople, operators and planners in cooperation with local industry partners.
In 2022, the first teachers as well as students, trainees and external parties were trained in the practice and use of the facilities during the online training sessions and training on site at the IET. The most recent workshop took place in January 2023. Specialist IET teachers, who had already been trained, provided training to external persons from industry and the public sector.
The training sessions from the German project partners are delivered in German and interpreted into Mongolian. The teaching materials were translated into Mongolian.
Improved access to and handling of drinking water
The project's main focus was the improved access to and supply of unpolluted drinking water in public buildings. The aim is to integrate technology for drinking water purification into the municipalities for the long-term, as well as to generate awareness of environmental and health protection.
The German project partners are also bringing the potential provided by the use of the latest plant technology in terms of purification and disinfection of drinking water to the attention of the responsible authorities, administrations and operators of drinking water supply facilities.
The need for drinking water security in Mongolia
Mongolia is facing huge challenges in the safeguarding of its freshwater resources. Water abstraction, for example, is on the increase while water availability is generally scarce. Agriculture, mining and industry is hugely impairing water quality, and outdated water supply and disposal infrastructures are putting freshwater resources under significant strain.
Drinking water in Mongolia is produced from surface water, spring water and groundwater. Compliance with hygiene standards applicable in Germany is generally not possible. Natural conditions (for example, very deep frost line in winter), the lack of efficient water distribution and insufficient knowledge of groundwater conditions significantly hamper the management of water resources.
These causes can sometimes result in the contamination of water intended for consumption. Such contamination can be hazardous to health and impact negatively on the population's hygiene and health.
