Water supply and sanitation in Japan
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Water supply and sanitation in Japan is characterized by numerous achievements and some challenges. The country has achieved universal access to water supply and sanitation, has one of the lowest levels of water distribution losses in the world, regularly exceeds its own strict standards for the quality of drinking water and treated waste water, uses an effective national system of performance benchmarking for water and sanitation utilities, makes extensive use of both advanced and appropriate technologies such as the jōkasō on-site sanitation system, and has pioneered the payment for ecosystem services before the term was even coined internationally. Some of the challenges are a decreasing population, declining investment, fiscal constraints, ageing facilities, an ageing workforce, a fragmentation of service provision among thousands of municipal utilities, and the vulnerability of parts of the country to droughts that are expected to become more frequent due to climate change.
Data | |
---|---|
Access to an improved water source | 100%[1] |
Access to improved sanitation | 100% |
Share of collected wastewater treated | 100% [2] |
Continuity of supply | Continuous |
Average urban water use (L/person/day) | 314 (2006) including hotels and public baths[2] |
Average urban water and sanitation tariff (US$/m3) | 2.46 in 2006 (1.33 for water and 1.13 for sewerage)[2] |
Share of household metering | 100% |
Share of self-financing by utilities | high |
Share of tax-financing | low |
Share of external financing | none |
Non-revenue water | 7.3% (2007)[3] |
Institutions | |
Decentralization to municipalities | Yes |
National water and sanitation company | Japan Water Agency (bulk water supplier) |
Water and sanitation regulator | No |
Responsibility for policy setting | Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare (water supply); Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (sanitation) |
Sector law | Water Supply Law of 1957; Sewerage Law of 1958 (with subsequent amendments)[2] |
Service providers | 2,334 in 2006 (water); 3,699 in 2005 (sanitation)[2] |