Water-related challenges in Asia are particularly acute. Home to more than half of the world’s
population, the region has less freshwater — 3,920 cubic meters per person per year — than any other
continent except for Antarctica. Additionally, almost two-thirds of the global population growth is
occurring in Asia, where the population is expected to increase by nearly 500 million people within the
next 10 years — increasing urban populations by 60%.1
These trends impact ASEAN member countries and reduce national capacity to advance domestic
priorities, including those related to sustainability, resiliency, and smart cities. Public and private
stakeholders domestically and internationally have an important role to play in addressing these
challenges, providing technologies and policy solutions that will contribute to a healthier, safer, more
water-secure world where people have sustainable supplies of water of sufficient quantity and quality.
As ASEAN member countries continue to make decisions that will shape their water and sanitation
systems today and in the future, this guide identifies issues, barriers, and opportunities for policymakers
to consider. Central to this report are technical regulations and many of the underlying international
standards upon which they are based. Technical regulations are important tools that governments have
in helping to shape the construction of quality infrastructure, the availability of safe and efficient
products, and the capacity and skill levels of their workforces.
Sustainable water and sanitation services are dependent on a strong local industry to support them.
Technical regulations become the common language by which domestic stakeholders (manufacturers,
labor, professional organizations, regulators, conformity assessment bodies, etc.) coordinate and
communicate internally and with the broader international community.
There are a number of benefits for ASEAN member countries focusing on water and sanitation technical regulations, including that they:
- Contribute to national efforts to ensure water and sanitation access under the UN Sustainable
Development Goals
- Represent the quickest and easiest way to respond to growing water stresses impacting the
region
- Aid efforts to improve sustainability and environmental quality
- Improve water quality in the near and long term.
Additionally, through collective action on water and sanitation technical regulations, ASEAN member
countries can foster trade and support the growth of domestic industries. They can help the region
benefit from improved enforceability and avoid technical barriers to trade that arise from locally
developed standards, local content requirements, and conformity assessment restrictions. Without coordinated action there is a risk of increased fragmentation among ASEAN markets, increasing the
potential costs and technical barriers faced by manufacturers and importers/exporters.
Over the past 20 years, three of the 10 ASEAN member countries have taken important steps to
harmonize water and sanitation regulations with each other and with the United States. Indonesia, the
Philippines, and Vietnam have each adopted plumbing construction codes of practices based off an
industry-developed international standard — the Uniform Plumbing Code developed by IAPMO.
These plumbing codes are tailored to local needs and incorporate the latest science, efficiencies and
best practices for the design and construction of quality infrastructure. Collectively, these national
plumbing codes reference more than 450 individual industry-developed international standards as part
of their requirements. More than 200 of these references are shared by two countries or more. They
represent a head start in ASEAN’s efforts to harmonize standards and conformity assessment processes.
Water efficiency should be an area for immediate collaboration. ASEAN lags behind other regions
around the world in improving water-use efficiency over time. There are opportunities to establish and
enforce baseline efficiency levels for plumbing fixtures as well as to expand voluntary labeling and
water-efficiency programs in the region to help public and private stakeholders make informed decisions
on water conservation.
Water quality is another area of potential collaboration. In building systems, water quality is improved
through the availability of water treatment technologies (e.g., point-of-use/point-of-entry filtration
systems) and by ensuring the quality of piping and plumbing fittings and fixtures. ASEAN has the
opportunity to expand and make mandatory technical regulations currently in place related to these
components.
Finally, ASEAN has a unique opportunity to harmonize conformity assessment processes in the region.
Many technical regulations in the region around plumbing fixtures and fittings, piping, and water
treatment technologies are voluntary. This has contributed to markets in ASEAN member countries
frequently being saturated with unsafe and inefficient products primarily due to lack of enforcement
regulations and processes related to these products. Lacking formal definition, ASEAN has the
opportunity to formalize its markets for water and sanitation technologies, incorporating internationally
recognized conformity assessment processes and bodies.
Tremendous progress has been made in aligning market access requirements in the region. Successful
initiatives in this area have resulted from partnerships between industry and ministries in ASEAN
member economies. Moving forward, continued collaboration between public and private stakeholders
will be essential to developing local industries, growing trade, and removing technical barriers.
1 Asia’s Next Challenge: Securing the Region’s Water Future. Asia Society. April 2009.
