For water contamination is as much a part of life in overcrowded the Jenrok district of Majuro as is an unemployment rate of nearly 50 percent and a lack of money to pay for basic urban services such as electricity.

"There is an urgent need for government intervention in preventing possible health crises," according to a newly released report on Jenrok.

The compact district of 195 homes houses about 2,000 people, or close to 10 percent of the population of the central Pacific nation's capital, and the damning report details a lack of jobs, low incomes and overcrowded households.

Only half of the homes are hooked up to electricity, and only a handful are connected to the sewer system, with most relying on septic tanks that leach into surrounding groundwater that is used for drinking and washing.

Overall unemployment is estimated at 47 percent, compared with the national average of 31 percent, while the jobless situation is most acute for men in the 20-35 age group where 79 percent are unemployed.

The average wage is 2.57 US dollars per hour while there is an average 9.5 people per household with fewer than two people working per house.

But it is the water situation that may be one of the biggest contributors to poor health in the area, according to the report sponsored by the Marshall Islands Environmental Protection Authority and the International Waters Program as part of a solid waste management project.

"People in Jenrok do not have access to clean and drinkable water," the report said.

More than half the houses rely on contaminated well or rain catchment tank water, magnifying the potential for disease to spread.

In addition to toilet waste leaching into ground water, a lack of cemeteries means bodies are buried next to homes, increasing the contamination of water used for washing, cooking and drinking.

All of the wells tested were "severely contaminated" although people "have been known to use well water for drinking", the report said

Samples from 11 wells showed none met the standard set by the World Health Organization, and all but one had nitrate levels from decomposing bodies and human and animal wastes in excess of the safe level for consumption by humans.

According to report author Ben Chutaro, one of the first steps in attempting to develop a long-term, sustainable approach to improving waste management was to conduct a social-economic study of Jenrok to understand the current conditions that affect the community's health, social, educational, economic and waste situation.

"Increasing access to clean drinking water will improve the health of people in Jenrok," the report said. But most don't have the financial means to pay for connections to either the city water supply or rainwater catchment tanks.

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