On June 26th, 2026, the Ministry of Construction and Architecture of Turkmenistan approved new building codes governing water supply networks, replacing outdated design guidelines. The old guidelines are not available on the website of the ministry.
Under the new code, engineers designing new housing must build pipe capacities based on specific daily per capita water consumption limits, dependent on household amenities:
- Homes without bathtubs: 160-200 liters per person per day;
- Homes with a bathtub and a water heater: 210-260 liters per person;
- Homes with centralized hot water supply: 300-450 liters per person.
For broad city planning, the infrastructure must be built based on the following limits:
- Urban areas: infrastructure must support 550-600 liters/person/day;
- Rural areas: 125-150 liters/person/day.
While Turkmenistan’s new standards guarantee that future housing will not lack water pipe capacity, especially with potentially growing water demand because of more frequent heat waves, they rely on outdated conservative engineering methods instead of adopting modern engineering philosophies focusing on water conservation and efficiency. Furthermore, although a full building code document with precise methods is not available, the methods for estimating pipe capacities are likely similar to the building code of the Soviet era. Although the water consumption limits for specific types of housing are slightly higher in the new building code, the limits for urban and rural area planning are exactly the same.
These new limits are unlikely to affect how much water an average citizen is going to get, especially in light of many earlier reports (2022, 2024, 2026) about abrupt water cuts and shortages across Turkmenistan. The updated code is intended only as a construction and engineering requirement, and does not indicate or guarantee how much water citizens will get.
Capacity standards vs. actual water use
These numbers represent technical engineering capacity requirements (the peak load that pipes must handle), and not daily usage guarantees or individual consumption levels. However, Turkmenistan’s design baselines are quite high when compared to global water usages:
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SUPPORT OUR WORK- The median water use of European citizens is around 110-137 liters/day/person, while an average U.S. resident consumes around 310 liters/day/person. In Uzbekistan, average water consumption is 112 liters/day/person, although an average person reportedly in Tashkent uses 230-270 liters/day/person. In Kazakhstan, average daily residential water consumption per person is reported at 167 liters for urban and 68 liters for rural citizens.
- Turkmen household use can be estimated at 178 liters/day/person (based on 460 million m3 of annual domestic water supply and 7.1 million population). It should be noted, however, that previous reports have shown that 30-55% of residential water supply is lost due to aging infrastructure and inefficient use.
How do these standards compare internationally?
Turkmenistan’s new building code sets a high minimum water supply capacity limit that new homes must deliver. This engineering approach differs from modern Western building methods, which prioritize water conservation and aims to prevent oversized infrastructure.
The European Union does not set flat per-person daily volume mandates in its building codes. Instead, European standards (EN 806-3) size indoor plumbing based on the number of appliances and each appliance’s “Loading Unit” (LU). 1 LU equals a flow rate of 0.1 liters per second. Every unit (toilet, shower, washing machine, etc.) is assigned an LU rating. Engineers use statistical probability curves to calculate the change of multiple appliances running at the same time (described in more details in the link). This, unlike new standards adopted in Turkmenistan, prevents oversizing and reduces energy waste, following the EU principles of sustainable buildings, maximizing energy efficiency and minimizing water consumption.
U.S. building standards typically rely on “Hunter’s Curve”. Similar to Turkmenistan’s approach, this method often overestimates peak water demand because it was established before the introduction of modern, water-efficient appliances. Oversized piping systems carry several drawbacks, such as water stagnation in large pipes and the risk of dangerous bacterial growth. To fix the issues, many states are now switching to the Water Demand Calculator method, an updated statistical model that predicts peak water demand based on usage patterns and ensures proper pipe sizing and minimizing water stagnation.
Facing severe water stress and declining flows in transboundary rivers like the Amu Darya, Turkmenistan must shift its urban planning from expanding pipe capacities to actively managing water demand. Instead of relying on Soviet-era methods that create health hazards like water stagnation in oversized pipes and bacterial growth, the Ministry of Construction should adopt modern probabilistic pipe-sizing frameworks like those in the EU and U.S. More importantly, rather than overlooking severe water leakages and chronic summer water shortages, the government should focus on modernizing aging water delivery infrastructure and minimizing water losses, as well as integrating long-term climate resilience into its national building codes.
