Background: A 2023 study by the United Nations University's Institute for Water, Environment and Health concluded that 72 percent of the world's population faces water supply issues, and 8.0 percent are experiencing severe water shortages. Mongolia has received 60 points out of a possible 100 points, and was defined as a country that is unreliable in terms of clean water supply and may face water shortages in the future. A survey of global water security has been conducted. The organization, which has research institutes in 12 countries, compared and ranked 14 indicators of 186 countries, including clean drinking water supply, sanitation, population health, water quality, freshwater resources, water resource sustainability, and governance related to water management. Mongolia scored the highest possible score of 10 out of 14 basic indicators for water availability. However, in terms of water treatment and reuse and water supply sustainability, the indicator of water storage scored the worst, 2 points. Also, Mongolia is weak in terms of governance related to water management, vulnerable to flood risks, and weak against flood disasters in terms of economy and infrastructure. It is concluded that due to the flood disaster, there could be an economic crisis at the national level.
According to WHO statistics in 2019, the mortality rate among the population of Mongolia due to unsafe drinking water and unsanitary facilitation is 3.2 per 100,000 people. It is 15.0 lower than the global average (18.2) and 13.8 percent lower than the average of Asian countries (17.0). According to 2022 Mongolian health statistics, the national average mortality rate due to unsafe drinking water and unsanitary facilities is 16.5 per 100,000 population. Compared to 2014, there was an increase in mortality per 100,000 people at the national and provincial levels. In Ulaanbaatar, which is the center of the total population, the mortality rate increased from 13.3 in 2014 to 16.2 in 2018 and to 23.2 in 2022. In the provinces, as of 2022, it is 10.7, or 12.5 less than Ulaanbaatar. Mongolia has two main types of water supply: centralized and decentralized, 47.9 percent of the total households in Mongolia (n=941,541) live in a fully equipped apartment with centralized and independent utility system. Drinking water service: The WHO-UNICEF Joint Monitoring Program on Water, Sanitation and Hygiene provides international comparisons of progress estimates in the area of WASH and undertakes global monitoring of the associated Sustainable Development Goals. The monitoring program has produced a report based on national and other estimates on the progress made in the water, sanitation and hygiene sector of the countries of the world for 2000-2022. Below are the figures and facts related to Mongolia included in that report. 84.0% of Mongolia's population (n=2,838,017) have access to basic drinking water services as of 2022.
• 39.0% (n=1,334,883) are directly supplied with drinking water from a safe or qualified source of drinking water;
• 44.0% (n=1,503,134) have access to drinking water less than 30 minutes from a basic or qualified source;
• 5.0% of the population (n=173,237) use surface water or water from rivers, lakes and ponds directly for their drinking water needs Sanitary facilities: As of 2022, 66.0% of Mongolia's population have safe sanitation facilities, of which 70.0% of the population in urban areas and 56.0% in rural areas. Although 25% of the rural population used to defecate in the open in 2015, it decreased by 15% in 2022, but 162,972 people still defecate in the open. In 2022, 0.35% meaning 44,066 of the total household population defecate in the open in rural areas. 76.0% of Mongolia's population has access to handwashing soap and water or basic services at home, and 14.0% has limited access to services (limited access to sinks, soap, and water at the household level). 74% of schools in Mongolia are provided with basic drinking water services. 85% of urban schools and 73% in rural areas are provided with drinking water. The study found that 25% of rural educational institutions spend more than 30 minutes getting drinking water from limited or qualified drinking water sources, and 2% have no drinking water. 70% of urban schools and 18% of rural schools have access to basic sanitation facilities. 18% of rural schools have limited services and 24% have no sanitation facilities. 30% of urban schools have limited sanitation facilities.
As of 2010, 43.5% of the households living at home share the toilet with others, 30.7% use it alone, 25.8% do not have their own toilet, 56.5% of the households pour their waste water into the well, and 43.5% of the households that pour it into the open. Solutions for sanitary facilities have been developed and standards for pit toilets and sinks have been developed and approved. The above 4 types of pit toilets are included in the standard. Hygiene 41% of schools in Mongolia have adequate access to basic hand washing facilities. 53.0% of schools in urban areas and 35.0% in rural areas have access to basic hand washing facilities. 41.0% of rural schools have limited access to sinks, soap, or water for students to wash their hands whenever they get dirty, and 24.0% have no hand washing facilities, or schools do not have handwashing sinks or have no water. 13.0% of urban schools do not have hand washing facilities. Before the pandemic (2020) and in 2022, when the epidemic level will decrease in Mongolia, the knowledge, attitudes and practices of the population about the pandemic have been studied. 83.2 percent (95%CI: 81.5-84.9) of participants reported a change in hand washing frequency. Also, 39.1 percent (95%CI: 37.1-41.2) wash their hands in the correct order, 53.2 percent (95%CI: 51.0-55.5) use soap frequently, and 33.5 percent (95%CI: 31.4-35.8) wash their hands 20 times a day. seconds, but about 9.9% (95%CI: 8.5-11.1) answered that there was no change in hand washing practices.