Bakheng Water Treatment Plant Expansion Crosses Major Threshold to Secure Capital Clean Water Access

• Sommana Yan
• 21 May 2026
• Construction Focus
• 791 Views

Phase Three Progress Surpasses Seventy % Mark as Cambodia Broadens Utility Infrastructure to Support Rapid Economic Growth

The ongoing construction of the Bakheng Water Treatment Plant Phase Three has achieved a significant milestone, with the project now certified as more than 70 % complete. This infrastructure expansion is poised to critically enhance the water distribution capabilities of the capital, ensuring long-term utility stability for hundreds of thousands of residents.

The structural development was verified firsthand during an on-site inspection of the construction progress conducted on May 15, 2026, by Hem Vanndy, the Minister of Industry, Science, Technology, and Innovation. Leading a high-level delegation to the facility, the minister underscored the government’s commitment to prioritizing robust public utilities that keep pace with urban expansion.

Minister Hem Vanndy disclosed that the Phase Three project specifically stands at approximately 72 % completion and is officially scheduled to reach full operational status by the second quarter of 2027. Once online, the expanded facility will substantially reinforce the supply of clean water to citizens residing across Phnom Penh and its surrounding peri-urban regions, directly contributing to an elevated quality of life and supporting local economic activities.

Engineered as a massive addition to the existing infrastructure, the Bakheng Water Treatment Plant Phase Three delivers an incremental production capacity of 195,000 cubic meters of clean water per day. This expansion ensures that the Phnom Penh Water Supply Authority can comfortably accommodate escalating domestic and commercial demand while minimizing seasonal shortages.

This monumental progress in the capital mirrors a broader wave of provincial utility advancements across the kingdom, benchmarking Cambodia’s accelerating infrastructure drive. Just weeks prior, on April 30, 2026, the Ministry of Industry, Science, Technology and Innovation inaugurated a new $31.77 million clean water supply system in Battambang province. Equipped with a raw water pumping capacity of 55,000 cubic meters per day and a treatment capacity of 50,000 cubic meters per day, the Battambang facility represents the government’s parallel efforts to decentralize high-capacity utility frameworks.

These multi-regional infrastructure investments are instrumental to achieving the kingdom’s ultimate sustainable development goals. According to recent data from the Ministry of Rural Development, basic clean water supply coverage across Cambodia climbed to nearly 90 % by the conclusion of 2025, while safely managed water systems reached 25 %. With large-scale urban developments like Bakheng Phase Three advancing rapidly alongside provincial achievements, the nation remains firmly on course to realize its target of 100 % universal clean water and sanitation access by 2030. (read more)

• Projects Development
• water treatment
• water infrastructure
• MISTI
• Water supply