Water supply posing problems in Vientiane
Photo: February is a part of the dry season in Laos. The Mekong is at its lowest in the history.
Vientiane water tanks running dry
Water supply is posing problems in Vientiane due to the low level of the Mekong River , according to the Vientiane Water Supply Company (Nampapa Nakhoneluang).
“We are now installing pumps on boats located in the middle of the Mekong where the water levels are deeper,” the Deputy Director of the company, Mr Khamsane Viphasith, said yesterday.
It is the first time the company has resorted to installing pumps on boats and the company hopes it will solve water shortages in Vientiane .
The pumps are being installed near the Kaoliew water treatment plant and will soon be ready for operation, Mr Khamsane said.
At this time of year water tanks in Vientiane are usually close to full and there is enough water for residential and commercial consumption, but the tanks are currently only half full, he said.
The company has the capacity to treat and supply about 160,000 cubic metres of water per day.
The Kaoliew plant usually has two pumps in operation withdrawing water from the Mekong River , but is currently only running one of those pumps. 
The company has cut back on pumping because the level of the river is too low to guarantee adequate supply, Mr Khamsane said.
Some residents living in elevated areas of the city or linked to the very end of the supply system are already affected by water shortages in daytime hours.
“People in these areas should be able to access water at night when demand is lower,” he said. 
The unseasonably low level of the Mekong River this year has affected not only water supply, but also navigation, transport and irrigation.
Nampapa Nakhoneluang has called on Vientiane residents to store water in tanks or large buckets to use in times of severe shortages before the onset of the rainy season in June. Mr Khamphan Keothavisouk, a resident of Viengchaleuan village in Xaysettha district, said he installed a small water tank at his house last week.
“My tank can hold 500 litres, so if Vientiane experiences severe water shortages for a few days I will still have water,” Mr Khamphan said.
He said he decided to install the tank after seeing a newspaper article stating that Nampapa Nakhoneluang was struggling to fill its supply tanks due to the falling level of the Mekong River . 
He also said he had seen on TV that the flows of the Mekong River are the lowest recorded in the last 20 years.
“We should all help Nampapa Nakhoneluang by reducing our water consumption,” Mr Khamphan said.
By Khonesavanh Latsaphao
Vientianetimes
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This is sad news and all start with the Chinese building those dams.. It will only get worse from this point on..
so let's built another dams in the south and central laos to keep the water level adequate at least for consumtion and for farming, we cannot let ourselve perish by lacking of water while the mekong river still have its water.
as far as i've concerned, i've seen this problem ever sine i was a kid. and i think, this time it' way too fast for the river to dried up.this is only the Thirtn month of the year. so i really think that, this is the time for lower mekong river countries like, Laos,Thailand,Cambodia,Vietnam,and Burma. need to get together to protest the Chinese for building the Dam that blocking the river for flowing down the stream.. and to be fair, Laos also build alot of dam too. But, none of them in or blocking makong river. all of them far away from mekong....
The dam on the Ou and the Tha affects the Mekong as both rivers run into the Mekong. There are many other problems with dams too. Laos should think very carefully before making any more dams.
Most of Lao's dams, were far away and has nothing to do with the mekong river dried-up..
Responding to the Anonymous poster above me.... Dams in Laos do effect the volume of water flowing into MeKong River. If you think it has nothing to do with it, I highly suggest you get yourself a topography map and see all those tributaries area those water coming from. After saying that, I still think the dams up in China cause majority of the problem.