Rain has returned to much of Asia, including the southern Indian city of Chennai where the first monsoon downpours have been buffeting the city since late last month.
But all four of the city's reservoirs have run dry and analysts warn that rapid urbanisation plus poor planning and maintenance mean many parts of Asia remain vulnerable to severe shortages as demand for water grows. Climate change is driving up temperatures and causing more extreme swings in the weather, including more intense droughts.
It is the poor who will suffer the most.
Ms Lilybeth Gelit, a community leader of the sprawling Kasiglahan Village public housing estate, just outside Metro Manila, faces regular water shortages, like many of her neighbours. Recently, she got up at 3am to fill up her buckets after the water utility turned on the taps for six hours.
Others in this estate of nearly 10,000 houses had water for even longer, she said. That is a big change from earlier in the month when there was no water in the main reservoir after a long drought.
After months of water shortages, Ms Gelit is wary. "Water has come back in the past few days," she said. "But some of us can't afford to buy bigger buckets to store water."
Manila's water demand already outstrips supply. Angat Dam, which provides nearly all of Metro Manila's running water, was exhausted after an abnormally long dry season. An additional dam - the 12.2 billion peso (S$325 million) Kalima Dam - was slated to start construction in 2015 but work has yet to start, owing to environmental concerns over the project.
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A 2016 report from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) said 3.4 billion people would be living in water-stressed areas in Asia by 2050. Many would be in India.
In the poorest parts of Jakarta, such as Muara Baru, residents buy water in canisters, with six costing about 15,000 rupiah (S$1.45) a day - far more than piped or well water. ST PHOTO: JEFFREY HUTTON
A report last year by Niti Aayog, a government think-tank, said about 600 million Indians face high to extreme water stress and about 200,000 die every year due to inadequate access to safe water.
Last month, London-based risk analytics firm Verisk Maplecroft found that 11 of India's 20 largest cities face extreme risks of water stress, according to its global Water Stress Index, and seven were in the high-risk category.
The index measures the water consumption rates of households, industries and farm sectors and the available resources from rivers, lakes and streams.
3.4b
Number of people who will be living in water-stressed areas of Asia by 2050.
600m
Number of people from India who face high to extreme water stress; about 200,000 die every year due to inadequate access to safe water.
300m
Number of people in Asia who lack access to safe drinking water.
1.5b
Number of people in Asia who do not have access to basic sanitation.
According to the United Nations, India is predicted to add 416 million urban dwellers by 2050, while China will add 255 million.
Globally, about 55 per cent of the world's population live in urban areas. By 2050, that number is expected to be 68 per cent as megacities in Asia and Africa expand rapidly, drawing in more and more resources.
Verisk Maplecroft says more than half of China's 1.4 billion people live in areas classified as high or extreme in its Water Stress Index. Major cities including Beijing and Tianjin face extreme water stress. China also faces major water pollution problems.
Chennai is one of the 11 major Indian cities deemed at extreme risk in the Verisk Maplecroft study. Its population is forecast to grow 47 per cent by 2035 to reach about 15 million.
Half of the new buildings constructed in the city since 2003 are harvesting rainwater, as required under local regulations, activists say. Only a handful of Chennai's more than 200 ponds and reservoirs have been rehabilitated despite funding from the state government.
Mr Arun Krishnamurthy, founder of non-governmental research outfit Environmentalist Foundation of India, said that following a drier-than-usual 2018, Chennai's reservoirs and aquifers would not be adequately replenished until the end of the year.
Catchment areas that would normally soak up rain have been paved for development to cater for a population that has more than doubled over the past 30 years, he said.
"It's not just about the rains being normal or failing. It's how we are going to manage every drop of water that we have," he said.
Severe droughts are a growing threat to the region's water supplies as cities increasingly compete for water resources needed by farmers to grow food. Droughts will also threaten to increase the variability of harvests.
Parts of Thailand are suffering from severe drought in the northeastern agricultural areas, threatening an economic slowdown there.
And at least six Indonesian provinces have declared a state of emergency to battle forest fires amid a particularly dry period.
Slow-moving bureaucracy, mismanagement and corruption further add to the region's water crisis, at a time when it needs major investments.
Asia will need to invest US$800 billion (S$1.1 trillion) in water and sanitation infrastructure by 2030 to keep pace with rapid population growth, the ADB has said.
About 300 million people lack access to safe drinking water and about 1.5 billion do not have access to basic sanitation, the bank said.
Ready access to clean and reliable water sources is key to economic well-being, experts say.
Mr Krishnamurthy said Chennai residents currently spend more than an hour every day getting enough water for the day, while the wealthy ones can afford to send house staff and private transport to collect water from multiple sources.
The shortage of water threatens livelihoods and dims economic prospects, according to a World Bank report in 2016. Economic losses stemming from shortages are predicted to add up to 6 per cent of GDP throughout Asia, the Middle East and North Africa by 2050, assuming there are no new major investments in water infrastructure.
"Coming out of the middle-income trap has a lot to do with reliance on secure sources of water," said Jakarta-based Mr Peter Letitre with Dutch water management consultancy Deltares, describing plateauing incomes of some emerging economies.
In Jakarta, a little over one-third of its 10 million residents have access to piped water. Those who can afford it drill wells, depleting aquifers and causing the ground to sink - up to 15cm a year in places.
Those who cannot afford to drill a well buy water from tanker trucks costing five times more per cubic metre than piped water, according to research by non-profit water research outfit Amrta Institute.
Extending the piped water system to the rest of the capital would cost about US$1.5 billion, an affordable sum even for Jakarta, said Mr Letitre.
But the difficulty in acquiring land and poor coordination between government departments impede planning, he added.
Residents of Muara Baru, where many work in construction or sort scrap metal on the edge of Jakarta harbour, have little hope of getting water piped to their homes.
Some siphon water from the public utility but there are frequent shortages and the water can stink of sewage. Most buy their water in 5-litre canisters filled from trucks that come several times a day.
Ms Emo, 62, who has been running a stall selling sweets and cigarettes for 40 years, said she spends about 15,000 rupiah (S$1.45) a day on roughly six canisters of water for her son, his wife and their two children. The water quality is fine and supply is reliable, she said.
But Ms Emo, who does not use a family name, suspects the neighbourhood has failed to register on anyone's radar at City Hall.
"We're too poor," she said. "There's no hope of getting running water here."
