Dr.
Suman K. Shakya, Ms. Biju Shrestha
Background
Drinking water supplies in most of the rural area,
and emerging village development committee based
towns and municipalities are usually inadequate
in terms of overall coverage, quantity of water
and of course poor water quality, which is below
WHO standards. Water supplies are intermittent with
access to only a few hours each day. Alternate to
the piped water supply system, people use traditional
water sources such as springs, ponds, streams, open
dug wells and shallow tubewells. But these sources
being unprotected, the quality of water is usually
poor. Thus these inadequate water facilities consumed
by the poor and low coverage of improved sanitation
facilities together not only cause health problems
but also lead to the contamination of surface water.
Hence household water treatment is of prime concern
for water quality improvement in such areas.
Solar
Water Disinfection (SODIS) is a very simple and
cost effective technology to purify drinking water
at the household level. It requires only sunlight
and PET bottles. Both heat and ultraviolet radiation
provided by the sunlight help to inactivate the
bacteria present in water, thus making water safe
for drinking. ENPHO started SODIS program in 2001
by undertaking research on effectiveness of SODIS
in different elevations of Nepal with joint collaboration
with EAWAG/SANDEC, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
(MIT), UNICEF and DWSS.
Promotional
Activities
Based on the successful findings of SODIS research
in Nepal and support from EAWAG/SANDEC, ENPHO had
promoted SODIS technology in selected communities
of Kathmandu, Lalitpur, Bhaktapur and Rupandehi
with encouraging results. The main objectives of
SODIS promotion in these areas were to promote,
disseminate and sustain SODIS, to improve the health
condition of SODIS users and to document the SODIS
experiences (major challenges, problems faced and
the lesson learnt) for the further improvements.
Prior
to the promotion of SODIS, ENPHO selected five partner
organizations and communities for SODIS promotion.
The major focus was given to the areas with poor
water quality and sanitary conditions and the need
for water treatment. The SODIS promoters of selected
communities were trained in technical details of
the SODIS as well as on water quality, health and
sanitation aspects via a three-day training and
planning workshop and one-day refresher workshop.
Community training was also conducted based on different
groups like a women group, users group, youth group,
and children network. Newspapers, audio visual,
hoarding boards and TV were also used as mass communication
for SODIS.
Findings
Based on one-year successive implementation of the
program the following are the major findings of
SODIS promotional activities. During the promotional
period a total of 2888 households were found using
SODIS out of 5500 households trained (Table 1).
Table 1. Converge and distribution of SODIS
S.NO |
District |
Community |
School
trained |
Total
HHs trained |
Total
SODIS users |
1 |
Khatmandu |
10 |
15 |
729 |
448 |
2 |
Bhaktapur |
6 |
4 |
581 |
274 |
3 |
Rupandehi |
4 |
6 |
466 |
302 |
4 |
Outside
of SODIS program area |
- |
- |
3189 |
1369 |
5 |
In
different program of ENPHO |
- |
11 |
535 |
395 |
6 |
Other
promotional activites |
- |
- |
- |
100 |
Total |
20 |
36 |
5500 |
2888 |
Health
improvement of users: SODIS is found to be a simple,
efficient and sustainable drinking water treatment
option. Thus it has reduced health risks associated
with the consumption of contaminated drinking water.
In order to find the diarrhoeal disease cases among
different ages in the community, a survey was conducted.
A study shows the incidence of diarrhoea disease
has reduced from 35.04 % to 14.63% in children under
5 years, 21.27% to 8.54% in female and 12.1% to
1.92% in male. Similarly, the users with no diarrhoeal
disease have increased from 31.59 % to 74.91%.
Acceptance
level of SODIS: Due to simplicity and effectiveness
of SODIS, selected communities are using the
technology as an alternative source of drinking
water purification. Throughout SODIS promotion
in the community, the special focus should be
given to its simplicity and effectiveness. It
is essential to gain the confidence of the people
in the community to promote SODIS. Once the
people get convinced, they use SODIS regularly.
The trends of SODIS users in different months
shows that, during the period May-June, the
numbers of SODIS users were gradually increasing
because they were very enthusiastic to know
about new technology and started using SODIS
continuously. Regular meeting and discussion
in the community with active participation of
promoters had helped a lot to promote SODIS.
The
numbers of users in the month of July-September
are regular users and are almost constant. They
are well convinced about this technology and
had gained several positive benefits. But some
of the users had stopped using SODIS water because
they had misused the bottles and complained
that the water is very hot during summer season.
The
numbers of users are found to decrease mainly
in Oct-December due to winter season. They feel
inconvenient to shake bottles with cold water
early in the morning. Since they are quite aware
about reduction of water related diseases after
SODIS use, they are adapting other treatment
options like boiling and filtering to purify
water.
Behavioral
change in water treatment practices: Before
introduction of SODIS in the community, 20%
of the people boiled, 9% filtered, 1% purified
water with chemical disinfection and 70% of
the people used to drink water without treatment.
When they became aware of water borne disease,
they realised the need of SODIS to reduce the
risk of such diseases. At present, 58% of the
people are using SODIS technology in the program
area.
The
major issues on SODIS
Considering
the existing practices and problems of SODIS
users in the selected communities, there are
significant issues to be deliberate for SODIS
promotion in Nepal.
-
Socially accepted and recognized as cost
effective technology
-
Bottle supply schemes are successful in
some of the urban communities
-
Reuse of PET bottles make this technology
environmental friendly
-
Reduction of water borne disease in the
program area
-
People were easily convinced about SODIS
technology through news and media like
television, newspaper etc.
-
Several organizations has included SODIS
topics in their program activities
-
More than 35 school children were oriented
about SODIS under this program
-
There are lots of indirect intervention
of SODIS aside from this program
-
Able to disseminate SODIS technology at
national and international level
-
SODIS program had also been recognized
under the project evaluation team of Social
Welfare Council (the apex body of NGOs
under Ministry of Women and Social Welfare)
-
Some of the people in the targeted community
did not continue SODIS especially during
winter and rainy days
-
Very difficult to convince some of the
old aged people about this technology
-
-
Not
easy to promote this technology in rural
communities where bottles are not available
-
Not
easy to change behavior of the people
therefore, need long term motivation program
with continuous supervision and monitoring
-
Program was focused only on urban poor
communities, which does not convince the
poor communities of credibility
-
There
is not much program to educate about SODIS
to elite people or senior citizens like
medical doctors, different professional
and experts whose voice could be easily
respected by the communities
Small
efforts, big achievements
Ramhiti,
a squatter community in Baudha area is composed
of people from different ethnic groups comprising
of 126 settlements. People often drink water
directly from shallow tube wells and several
cases of diarrhoeal disease were found. With
three days training of health volunteers (promoters),
they started promoting SODIS in the community.
It was really very difficult to convince the
people to change their behaviour. Although 10-15
HHs started using SODIS with less number of
bottles, they didn't lose their confidence even
though there were several complaints regarding
the taste of water, bottle issues and incidence
of disease.
Promoters
started convincing people day and night with
full efforts. At last their dream turned out
to be real. More than 50HHs are using SODIS
with more than 20 bottles in most of the houses.
The cases of diarrhoeal disease have been reduced
and oral rehydration solution is sold less than
before says Shova Lama, health volunteer (promoter)
of Ramhiti. Old people in the community who
used to boil water for the last 20 years are
happy to use SODIS and believe that it is good
for their health and has reduced economic cost.
The easily accessible channel of bottles in
the community had made this program successful.
SODIS water was used when a health camp was
organised in the community school. Bimala Lama,
promoter of Ramhiti says "I am very happy
promoting SODIS which has helped to improve
the health status of the community. Moreover
people in the community come to my house to
drink SODIS water and I don't feel tired to
fill 25-30 bottles in a day".
For
more information, please contact ENPHO office
