Upgrading water supply and wastewater collection systems in rural areas as a way to improve quality of life of the population of Russia

Abstract

This article pinpoints the problem of no modern water supply and sewage systems in homes of ca. 22-24 million people in the Russian Federation residing in the countryside nowadays. As a statistical database, the authors use the results of the Rosstat surveys entitled "The Comprehensive monitoring of the living conditions of the population" that were conducted in 2011 and 2020. We analyze the data on cold and hot water supply systems, sewage systems and toilets in homes of households across the country in general, in rural areas and in individual houses (the private sector). The article reveals that there are no modern types of sewage systems in homes of almost two-thirds of households, whereas modern toilet is not installed in one-third, hot water supply — in 26 per cent, and cold water supply system — in homes of 11 per cent of households in rural areas. When considering individual houses in rural settlements the situation is even worse, and the numbers reach 81 per cent, 42 per cent, 30 per cent and 13 per cent respectively. Six groups of regions of the Russian Federation are distinguished by the share of households that do not have access to any water supply system in their homes. Subsequently, we define four reasons why rural areas have been consistently lagging behind cities and towns in terms of infrastructural development, including the decline of local Soviet-era agricultural enterprises (kolkhozes and sovkhozes) in the beginning of the 1990s and the development of rural territories as a generally low priority topic for the Federal executive bodies. The other two reasons are the virtual disconnection of rural territories from the state policies in the area of housing construction and utilities and the insufficient compatibility of the current model of providing state and municipal services to the population living mostly in individual houses on private land under the conditions of shortage of financial resources. In conclusion, we propose a set of measures aimed at boosting resolution of the ongoing problems with universal access to modern water supply and sewage systems in rural areas of the Russian Federation.