Water Management and future opportunities

By Deepak Raj Adhikari

Water: A precious resource

Much of the world’s water is found in the oceans, which is not suitable for drinking, irrigation, or industrial purposes due to its high concentration of salt. Surface water forms only a small fraction of world’s available water and much of it locked up in ice caps or glaciers, or is buried so deep that it costs too much to extract it. This means only a tiny portion of the fresh water is available to support the human population. However, there is 40 times as much ground water as surface water but its distribution is unequal and only a small amount of it is economically exploitable.

Freshwater is a critical resource in the transition to a sustainable future. As it courses through the hydrological cycle, water is the life-blood of food production, commerce, human needs, and innumerable aquatic ecosystems. Water resources are finite, while water demands are increasing dramatically, driven by the relentless growth of human activity in the recent decades. This indicates that the water should be used in a sustainable manner in order to survive in the future.

Water supply and demand in Kathmandu

The present drinking water demand in Kathmandu is 160 MLDč whereas the supply is only 80-90 MLD during the dry period and the annual growth in water demand is 6 MLD. In addition to that, there is 35-40% water loss due to leakage through the distribution systems. The sewer lines are laid next to the drinking water supply lines at many places. This may lead to contamination of drinking water with sewage if the sewer line leaks and there is no enough pressure in the drinking water lines. This indicates that we have shortage of drinking water supply and at the same time we are not utilizing our valuable resource properly in a responsible manner.

Sources of drinking water and their status in Kathmandu

The major source of drinking water in Kathmandu is surface water and the ground water reserve. The limited surface water resources that we have in Kathmandu are badly polluted due to human interventions. As a result, the main two holy rivers, Bagmati and Bishnumati, have virtually converted into open sewers due to unscientific and haphazard wastewater management practices over the last few decades. The domestic wastewater, including the septage and industrial wastewater, is directly discharged into the rivers untreated making them unsafe for human use and look aesthetically ugly too. There are people in Kathmandu who still rely on these rivers for several purposes like for cleaning the utensils, bathing, washing the vegetables prior to selling in the market etc. Under such situation, the public health is always at risk and there are several deaths recorded due to water borne diseases every year.

Wastewater management in Kathmandu

Wastewater management in Kathmandu is poor. There is a lack of commitment from the side of the government on wastewater management issues. The sewer system is established without organized planning and most of them are combined with storm water drainage systems, which ultimately pour into the river. Reports indicate that only about 60% of the households are connected to sewer systems in Kathmandu. Septic tanks are a basic means of single building wastewater treatment. The extracted liquid, called ‘Septage’, is discharged directly either into the sewer systems or into the rivers once the septic tank is full and emptied. ‘Septage’ contains high concentration of solids, organic matter and large quantity of enteric microorganisms and grease. Septage contains almost 50 times higher the concentrations of organic matter and solids than in normal domestic sewage. A septage treatment plant, based on reed bed technology, was installed by Kathmandu Metropolitan Corporation in 1998. Previous performance data revealed that this system was efficient enough to bring the level of pollution significantly down. But, it is out of operation since last year merely due to managerial problems. There are four municipal wastewater treatment plants in Kathmandu established decades ago but most of them are either out of operation for years or partially operational. The reason behind it is the lack of proper operation and maintenance, lack of educated and trained operating staffs and lack of enough budgets for operation and maintenance. Recently, a new municipal wastewater treatment plant has been established in Guyheshwari, which will help to allow clean water flow in Aryaghat in order restore the cultural and religious value of Pashupatinath temple. Most of the industries are haphazardly spread all over the valley. Though industrial wastewater forms only 2% of the total wastewater generation, it may contain toxic chemicals and create nuisance such as smell problem. The industries, too, discharge their wastewater directly into the rivers without treatment.

Groundwater abstraction and its implications

As stated above, the supply of drinking water is inadequate in Kathmandu. People have their own wells to extract water from the ground to fulfill the balance. More than that, industrial establishments and hotels extract the groundwater as a "free" commodity due to lack of regulations on groundwater use. The abstraction rate is higher than its rate of recharge resulting into rapid lowering of the groundwater table. Reports say that an average rate of lowering of the groundwater table is 2.5 m. every year. Over-abstraction of groundwater has created a negative pressure underground allowing an easy seepage of wastewater into the groundwater reserve. As a result, the shallow wells are contaminated with pathogens making them unsafe for human consumption. Such misuse of groundwater may, even, lead to sinking of the city as in Calcutta where the city has sunk almost two feet over the last 25 years due to rapid rate of groundwater depletion.

Future opportunities and recommended measures

Though there is a possibility of having water from Melamchi, it shall take many years and its price shall be higher than we are paying today. Therefore, it is vital that we should use the water, that is available today, in a more sustainable and responsible manner and try to see the possibility how we can conserve it. It is better now than never. We should be proactive rather than reactive on this issue. We should attempt to do something now than do nothing and just wait for Melamchi project. We should try to explore the opportunities how we can save this precious resource and protect the surface and groundwater from pollution. There could be several means and opportunities to achieve this goal in a holistic manner as:

The raw wastewater should not be discharged into the river. One may argue that wastewater treatment is an expensive option and we cannot afford it. But, there are systems available which are efficient, cheap and easy to operate and maintain. One of such systems would be ‘constructed wetland treatment system’, which is in operation at several locations in and around Kathmandu valley namely at Dhulikhel hospital, Dhulikhel; Malpi Int’l school, Panauti; Sushma Koirala Memorial hospital, Sankhu; etc. These systems are efficient enough to eliminate the pollutants, cheap and easy to install, operate and maintain, require less-skilled personnel to run the system, and pleasant to look at. The existing wastewater treatment plants, which are non-functional at present, can be rehabilitated or even converted into constructed wetlands, if necessary, and similar systems can be installed where possible.

Greywater (wastewater from the bathroom, kitchen, laundry) and blackwater (wastewater from toilets) may be separately collected and handled. Greywater can be treated and reused within the premises for several non-drinking purposes like flushing the toilets, watering the garden etc., which does not need water of drinking quality. An existing system in Kathmandu, based on constructed wetland treatment technology, has revealed about 40% water can be recycled with such a system. A survey can be conducted to ascertain the feasibility of number of such systems in Kathmandu. This may significantly lower the current water crisis of Kathmandu. Such system may, also, be suitable for institutions that use plenty of water in a day like hotels.

Existing septage treatment plant could be rehabilitated and similar other systems may be installed elsewhere in order to ensure that the total volume of septage generated in Kathmandu can be collected and treated before disposal.

Industries should be asked to manage their wastewater and before discharging into the river. Industries, those are polluting, should be asked to pay tax based on the load of pollution they are discharging (polluter pays principle). The existing ‘polluter says principle’ should be abolished.

As much as possible, industries should be confined in industrial districts in a systematic manner such that their wastewater can be treated collectively after characterizing their waste streams.

Industries may be asked to move out of the valley, if possible. However, the government should give incentives to them to do so. This shall help to conserve the water resource to some extent, as the industries are among the major water users. A mechanism to harvest the rainwater in the household and community level could be encouraged extensively.

Stone-spouts (Dhungdgara) could be restored and rehabilitated. This water could be stored and distributed. The water loss through leakages during distribution could be minimized and the opportunities to collect water from local sources could be explored to the maximum level possible.

There should be firm and coordinated regulatory systems formulated by the concerned governmental authorities to regulate the areas of discharge limitations, resource utilizations (mainly for groundwater use), fee (tariffs) assessments and more importantly on enforcement. The government should attract appropriate and sustainable water and wastewater projects from the donor countries/agencies suitable to our local conditions and cultures. In this connection, the local NGOs may be encouraged to explore the opportunities.

However, the role of local NGOs and media becomes equally important to raise awareness to the people on water and wastewater issues to build a pressure group to the government to fulfill its responsibility in a responsible manner and to influence and coordinate effectively with wastewater facilities management. Nevertheless, it is the responsibility of the civic society to participate and involve in such burning issues as an honest and sincere watchdog.

home away from home
Children dream of a future

By Nitya Nanda Timsina

Journalists tend to turn where the noise is one of the loudest. One of the things sometimes worth reporting more than a yelling crowd or a mob in the streets is a lonely refugee child clogged in a crude school dress and treading along the long road to school with a dream that sometimes look so small but making us flee in disbelief.

Who she is all in silence? What can people tell others about the mind she shares - the innocent yet sharp mind? Day after day, her school days go routinely like clockwork. Her cloistered type of school has been housing more than 1600 refugee children and supported by the money funneled in by donor countries.

Every human being on earth are born with hands, feet, a little nose and a pair of blue, brown and dark eyes depending upon their parents. They walk, they can talk, have needs just like everyone else. This little kid taking bold steps for her future at a refugee camp is incredibly responsive to education provided by CARITAS and UNHCR. With her bright and witty face, with a mop of short hair tied with ribbon and carrying with her a dream to win a prize so small it sounds to the world, Goma, a six-year-old student of a kindergarten saunters down the dusty road toward the nursery school run by CARITAS and UNHCR situated a couple of paces from her hut.

"You’re not going to believe the next prize I am going to win at school," she told her parents one morning. Her father Hari and mother Krishna leaned forward and asked curiously, "what it could be nani?" "Kapy", she said meaning a notebook. The by-standers looked on perplexed faces to see her steely will to win the prize.

Last year Goma had won a pencil as a consolation prize but she still has it tucked in her school bag. It has become a thing of value, worth a big prize and she spins it as she moves on. She thinks it’s worth going to school for the next kapy, which seems within her reach, given the extra-ordinary enthusiasm to go to school at so tender an age. Her parents consider it a "magnum opus".

Deepawali, greatest Hindu festival was knocking at the doors for every refugee children. The scene in the neighborhood was greeting the welcome of the colorful festival. But the life in the neighborhood still seems to quite down. A group of children still played on the dusty road, forgetting that it was time for school. However, Goma continues.

"If children enjoy success in school, they will look forward to going to school everyday," says her teacher, Dal Bir Chettri.

"Where were you before you were born, Goma?" "Bhutan," she says confidently and all around her choke ... A child who could scarcely mutter a few lines from the text book - somehow knows what to say when in the next moment she said, "No, in my Matajee’s stomach," she points to her mother realizing that the first answer was wrong. Laughter roars all around.

Talking with a shutter and lips, Goma startles everyone around her as she narrates how she was taught the other day. When she was born six years back, her parents were still refugees. Because of the courage and enthusiasm for education, this little girl carry admiring testimonies to the late Ashish Gurung, Director of CARITAS, who first spearheaded to support refugee education programme. The CARITAS, UNHCR investing in this child’s tomorrow could return big dividend for the rest of this child’s life as she progress through school.

Unlike the fortunate parents who have abundant books shipped in their children, Goma has a pencil and erasor, which she calls "lazer" provided by CARITAS Nepal and UNHCR.

For the brightest and the best students, the future is truly unlimited. But there are some children despite having these skills, may not have as many choices in tomorrow’s world. Back in Bhutan, her elder brother and sister were tried to school but met with opposition from the authority because of their status and because her father was imprisoned. Yet for many Bhutanese refugee children, life in the camps is a blessing in disguise. For all those with this disease of inability to study in Bhutan due to their status, education in the camps means a matter of life and death.

A quarter of the refugee children were born in Nepal and have not only learned to live in democracy but also get their education. Many of these children were born, grown up as Bhutanese, learned their country’s history, learned "Driglamnamja" but their birth and knowledge alone did not make them a citizen of Bhutan. It often takes some great changes to make one feel truly connected to ones heritage and place. And one of the changes could be human right, including the right to a proper education in the country of their nationality.

Tens of thousands of Bhutanese refugees have today begun to learn that though they are out of reach to providing good education to their kids, CARITAS and UNHCR’s education in the schools helps children. They place value on education. "Education to our children is everything for us ", says Abhinarayan Adhikari, an elderly refugee who has four kids attending to a camp school.

No matter how much sorrow lingers for the nation and the world, no matter what fears they will have to accept in the face of so much agonies and pangs of life as refugees, unable to repatriate, no matter how much anger their government harbors against them, hope - the very semblance of life keep refugee going that some day their kids will grow to their full potential with the education that UNHCR and CARITAS provide them.

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