Untitled Document

We talked a lot about global climate change and Bali in the month of December. Now it is time to talk trash and shit, as we head into the International Year of Sanitation 2008. ENPHO is excited about this and we hope we can excite many other people on this topic throughout this year.

This is the 25th issue of our E-bulletin and with this issue, we also enter the third year of our publication. We sincerely hope that our bulletins have been valuable for you and we take this occasion to thank you for your continued support. We look forward to your valuable comments and suggestions. In the mean time, make sure you continue to talk about shit and take care of this shit before it bounces back at you.

THINKING BEYOND TAPS AND TOILETS!

The sanitation situation in Nepal is still appalling, though efforts have been made over the past years to bring about improvement in this sector.

We all know that the access to sanitation services is remarkably less in comparison to access to water supply (in both urban and rural areas) which is illustrated by consideration of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) that the countries of the world pledged to reduce by half the proportion of people without access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation. With the exception of sub-Saharan Africa, the world is well on its way to meeting the drinking water target by 2015, but progress in sanitation is not gaining momentum in many developing regions.

An era of government intervention in the sanitation sector in Nepal began with the launching of UN Declaration of International Drinking Water and Sanitation Decade in 1981. Several measures have been announced for the promotion of water supply and sanitation since then and a lot of progress has been made. But there is an urgent need to do a lot more. In this context, UN has also declared 2008 as the International Year of Sanitation (IYS). Furthermore, the participating countries of the South Asia Conference on Sanitation (SACOSAN III) held in Islamabad in 2006 have also reaffirmed their commitment and political will to achieve the targets of basic sanitation in pursuance of MDGs. So, we see the political commitment at international level exists, the challenge to WATSAN practitioners now is to deliver sustainable sanitation services to more than two billion people of the world by 2015.

Similar challenge exists in Nepal too. Sanitation coverage in Nepal is about 46% in 2005 and is expected to jump to 60% by 2015. According to Water Aid Nepal, the annual compounded growth rate of 7% in sanitation coverage may not be enough to meet the country’s sanitation indicators. So it is quite evident that Nepal’s prospects of meeting the MDGs are challenging.

Nowadays, sanitation is perceived as being important by people for a variety of reasons such as: Health; Privacy and convenience; Security - Women in particular; Livelihoods; and Environment. Moreover, the burden associated with inadequate coverage and access and of inefficient service delivery falls heaviest on the most vulnerable and the poorest. Lack of access to safe sanitation affects women the most not only in terms of their health but also their dignity and safety.

Promoting sanitation is therefore not just about providing toilets and taps; it is about thinking and planning sanitation beyond taps and toilets. While conventional methods have focused more on access to toilets and tap stands, less attention has been focused on missing links of integrated environmental sanitation including its governance. Moreover, the proper use of sanitation facilities including toilets is equally important to achieve desired targets of sanitation. The prevalent approach of measuring sanitation indicators through number of toilets should now be replaced by qualitative indicators.

Declaring IYS 2008, UN has also emphasized to develop and strengthen institutional and human capacity via recognition at all levels that progress in sanitation toward the MDG’s involves interlinked programs in hygiene, household facilities (such as toilets and washing facilities) and wastewater treatment. It has also focused on the need of community mobilization, the recognition of women’s key role and stake, along with an appropriate mix of “software” and “hardware” interventions.

In order to address the problems of people lacking any form of hygienic sanitation facility, improvements can be made in progressive steps. As categorized by the WASTE, the Netherlands-based NGO, firstly we have to focus on improved hygiene behaviors, supported by education programs and community-based cleanliness initiatives for those with No sanitation; secondly, the Basic sanitation – generally low-cost technologies that protect health in the household environment by creating barriers between pathogens and humans and ensuring hygienic disposal of excreta and wastewater; thirdly, the Environmental sanitation – expanding the focus to include preventing pollution of water sources, effective use and reuse of water, protecting the health of the wider community, and improving the environment; and finally, the Ecological sanitation – with a prime concern for reuse and recycling of nutrients to improve food production as well as protecting health and the environment.

Hence, it is evident that appropriate sanitation solutions need to be identified and promoted in Nepal in order to address the sanitary problems. Thinking beyond taps and toilets - we can find a real solution to the sanitation problems!

ENPHO has completed the first round of indoor air pollution monitoring in three districts. The study team from Energy and Environment Unit visited Ilam from Dec 16-29, 2007. The team conducted household survey for the indoor air pollution measurement as well as health impact assessment from kitchen smoke and monitored PM2.5 and carbon monoxide in 19 households using the UCB particle monitor and HOBO CO Loggers. This time, ENPHO was able to use an additional 3 sets of UCB particle monitors and HOBO CO Loggers with a generous support from Ajay Pillarasethi, a Fulbright Scholar from the United States. Mr. Pillarasethi is currently providing his technical expertise to ENPHO for the on-going project on “Effectiveness of Improved Cooking Stoves (ICS) in Reducing Indoor Air Pollution and Improving Health”.

Prem Gurung and Regula Meierhofer from EAWAG/SANDEC, Switzerland visited Nepal from Dec 3-11, 2007. The main objective of the mission was to review the progress of the project, outline the implementation strategy for the next phase, advocate with the key policy makers to seek formal endorsement of SODIS by the government as a water treatment option and incorporate SODIS in the primary health care program of the government. The mission met key stakeholders at Ministry of Health and Population, Department of Water Supply and Sewerage, UNHABITAT, UNICEF and several NGOs and also observed SODIS use in three different locations. A meeting was also held with partners and stakeholders to plan detail strategy for SODIS promotion.Urmila Joshi from ENPHO participated in “SODIS Dissemination and Advocacy Workshop” in Sikkim from Dec 4-7, 2007 where she shared ENPHO’s experiences regarding major challenges and milestone achievements, especially focusing on the diversified targeting strategies on SODIS sustainability in Nepal. The workshop was organized by Voluntary Health Association of Sikkim (VHAS) with the objective to initiate institutionalization of SODIS in ongoing projects/programs of Health Department, State Government and other stakeholders.

Bangladesh Council for Industrial and Scientific Research (BCSIR) has accepted the Kanchan Arsenic Filter (KAF) for Environmental Technology Verification in Bangladesh. LEDARS, a Bangladeshi NGO, with support from MIT, CAWST and ENPHO is testing the application of KAF in Bangladesh and had requested the BCSIR to verify the technology. In this process 10 filters (6 plastic and 4 concrete) were installed in homes in two different districts in March 2007 and six rounds of testing has been done as of December 2007. Tom Mahin from MIT, who was in Kathmandu on Dec 9 &10 said that the filters that have been installed in Bangladesh are performing very well. The filters have successfully treated water with very high arsenic concentration (up to 744 µg/L) to below 50 µg/L.

ENPHO has signed an agreement with UNICEF to revise and develop new IEC and training materials on Arsenic. ENPHO in close coordination with DWSS and UNICEF has completed revision of old IEC materials related to arsenic testing and mitigation such as brochure, leaflet, poster and calendar and Several new materials on arsenic and arsenic mitigation options are in progress of designing. Development of new IEC and training materials include fact sheets, flip chart, technical manual, flexes, posters and danglers. Audio visual materials such as documentary, TV commercial, radio spots and jingles will be also developed. All these materials will be used during mass awareness campaign and implementation of arsenic mitigation programme at arsenic affected districts of Nepal.

ENPHO with support from UNICEF and in collaboration with 8 local NGOs conducted awareness campaign on household water treatment and hand washing, and distributed chlorine solutions and soaps in 75 flood affected VDCs in four eastern Terai districts (Saptari-20, Siraha-20, Dhanusha-20 and Mahottari-15). A total of 77,111 chlorine solutions (14,533 Piyush and 62,578 Waterguard) and 71,605 soaps were distributed to 70,997 households in four districts through 1,578 trained Female Community Health Volunteers (FCHVs) and other volunteers (Junior Circle and Nepal Red Cross Society members, school teachers etc).

On Dec 24, Deepak Shrestha, Chairman of the Makwanpur Chamber of Commerce and Industry inaugurated the newly built Community-Based Water Supply System in Kalyantaar, Hetauda. The system, which was built by the local community with support from UNHABITAT, ENPHO and the municipality at a total cost of Rs. 429,747, caters to the needs of 55 households. The system taps the water from a local spring and pumps it to up to a 5000 liter overhead tank, from where it is supplied through seven community taps. The Executive Officer of Hetauda Municipality, Madan Bhujel, Chief Technical Advisor of UNHABITAT, Dr. Roshan Raj Shrestha, Executive Director of ENPHO, Bhushan Tuladhar and several local leaders gave their remarks on the occasion.

The former Chairman of the Makwanpur District Development Committee laid the foundation stone for a community managed toilet (CMT)/community building at the slum settlement of China Quarter in Hetauda on Dec 24. This is the first of two CMTs being constructed with support from UNHABITAT, Water Aid Nepal and ENPHO in China Quarter. On the same day the new pavement and drainage system in the community was also inaugurated.

The small community of Pyang in southern Lalitpur is going through a transformation as people begin to clean up their acts and their village. In the past one year, about 60 toilets have been constructed, out of which 47 are urine-diverting ecosan toilets. Similarly, 800 m2 of pavement and 460 meters of drains have built as well. The locals have also initiated a plastic collection scheme using “suiro” and regular cleanup campaigns. The initiative in Pyang is being supported by Water Aid Nepal.

The total sanitation drive in the settlements of Lanagol and Chovar of Kirtipur Municipality have become successful as all the houses now have toilets and the communities are preparing to declare their areas as open defecation free areas. The communities have also initiated regular plastic collection and clean up campaigns.

Bhushan Tuladhar from ENPHO, together with Dinesh Manandhar from D-Net, visited Koshi Zonal Hospital in Biratnagar from Dec 17-19 to assess the medical waste management in the hospital and recommend improvement measures. They had discussions with all key stakeholders, conducted an analysis of the waste generated by the hospital and gave a presentation to key staff on the findings. Bhushan Tuladhar also met with Pramila Nepal, Head of the Environment Section at Biratnagar Sub-Municipal Corporation and visited a Community-based Compost Chamber at Bijaypur in Ward 1 and a Public Toilet at Malaya Road Squatter settlement in ward 19. As an outcome of this mission, ENPHO and D-Net has assisted the Hospital in preparing a proposal for SEAM-Nepal for improving the medical waste management system.

WHO organized a Regional Workshop on Water Safety from 10 to 13 December in Kathmandu. Bhushan Tuladhar and Bipin Dangol from ENPHO participated in the workshop. With assistance from Water Aid Nepal, ENPHO will be assisting municipalities in preparing and implementing Water Safety Plans in the process of adhering to the National Drinking Water Quality Standards, which requires all urban water supply operators to prepare Water Quality Improvement Programmes within one year.

On Dec 7, 2007 Bhushan Tuladhar led an interaction programme at ENPHO on Climate Change in the Context of COP 13 in Bali. The programme was organized by Green Youth Network. Similarly, on Dec 14, Bhushan Tuladhar gave another presentation on the same topic at Martin Chautari. Altogether more than 50 people, mostly youth participated in the events. Bhushan Tuladhar also gave an interview to Radio Sagarmatha on Dec 12 on the topic of climate change and water resources.

ENPHO has recently completed ‘A Health Impact Study in Arsenic Affected Areas in Three VDCs of Kailali District’ for Rural Village Water Resources Management Project (RVWRMP), Dhangadhi, and Kailali. Arsenicosis cases identified by health workers based on ‘A Field Guide for Detection, Management and Surveillance of Arsenicosis Cases, WHO Technical Paper No. 30, SEARO, New Delhi, 2005’ in Chaumala, Kota Tulsipur and Lalbojhi VDCs were verified by a Health Consultant (Dr. Manen Pd. Gorkhaly). Tubewell water samples and biological samples (urine, hair and nail) collected for arsenic measurement are under analysis at ENPHO Research Laboratory.

Climate change will have adverse impact on human health and environment, which could cause fatal diseases, loss of lives, natural calamities like flood, landslides, reduction of water level and low production of crops. Addressing a three-day National Workshop on “Climate Change and Human Health: Potential, Impact, Vulnerability and Adaptation in Nepal," Environmentalist and researchers said that climate change had direct impact on human health through pathways such as extreme weather events that causes injuries, deaths and epidemics, particularly water borne and vector borne diseases. The experts added that local weather phenomena would be changed reversing the natural weather cycle that could cause warmer weathers in winter in hills than in Terai, shorten fog prevalence in Kathmandu valley, increase cold wave and hot waves in Terai and decrease the number of rainy days. Minister of State for Health and Population Shashi Shrestha said that the impact of climate change should be advocated at the grassroots level by identifying the highly vulnerable areas of climate change.
Source….. The Rising Nepal, Dec 20

The issue of the Melamchi Water Supply Project is likely to ignite a new debate with a group of experts proposing a modification in the ongoing project to make it at least six times bigger in terms of water supply and generate at least 225 MW of electricity. A group of water experts has proposed a modification in the $500 million project to make it six times bigger in terms of water supply and to include extra components like hydropower and irrigation in it. The ambitious proposal is going to be presented to the Natural Resource Committee of the parliament on Monday. “We are going to brief the lawmakers on the new version of project,” said Bhushan Tuladhar, the Executive Director of Environment and Public Health Organization (ENPHO). He said that the modification was necessary because the current infrastructure of the project will be insufficient to meet the demands of the Valley when the project is completed. “Instead of completing the project as per the original plan and start looking for another source of water supply by the time the project gets completed, it should be modified in a way that it could serve the Valley for several decades to come and include additional components like electricity generation and irrigation to the project,” he said.
Source….. The Himalayan Times, Dec 22

Drinking water in the metropolitan, including Kathmandu Valley, has been found to be contaminated. Two different studies on the quality of drinking water in these areas revealed that almost 90 per cent of the total drinking water samples tested were found crossing the WHO guidelines in terms of the presence of coliform-intestinal bacteria. Though this bacteria is not harmful on its own, it indicates the presence of other pathogenic bacteria. Anup Muni Bajracharya of the Central Department of Microbiology (CDM) and a team from the Nepal Academy of Science and Technology (NAST) tested 114 water samples from stone spouts, taps and tube wells. Bacteriological analysis revealed the presence of coliform in 90.35 per cent of the samples -- 97 per cent in tube well water, 73 per cent in tap water and 100 per cent in water from stone spouts. In another study, conducted by Tista Prasai of NAST, Binod Lekhak and Dev Raj Joshi of CDM and Madhav Prasad Baral of the National School of Sciences, 132 water samples randomly collected from tube wells, wells, taps and stone spouts were tested. It revealed that 92.4 per cent of the samples crossed the WHO guideline value for drinking water regarding coliform count.
Source….. The Himalayan Times, Dec 22

Officials have urged the government to take immediate initiative to find a long-term solution to the capital's garbage management problem and to that end identify alternative land-fill sites along with formulation of new laws. Speaking at a meeting of the Environment, Communication and Technology Committee (ECTC) at the interim parliament, Ram Kumar Shrestha, secretary at the Ministry of Local Development (MoLD), on Friday warned that the capital will face an even more serious crisis in garbage management for the next three to four years if the government fails to promptly find a long-term solution.
Six months from now the Sisdole land-fill will be completely full. MoLD has identified Bancharedanda of Nuwakot district, two kilometers from Sisdole, as an alternative site for dumping garbage. "But it may take three to four years to develop infrastructure and construct a road to reach there," Shrestha added.
Dinesh Kumar Thapaliya, executive officer at Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC), said that since 1997, KMC has been discharging the responsibility of garbage management delegated by the Garbage (Management and Resource Mobilization) Center on an ad-hoc basis in the absence of effective laws.
In order to manage around 306 tons of garbage produced in Kathmandu Valley every day, Rs 510 million -- 310 million from KMC and 200 million from the private sector and the community -- is spent every year.
Source….. Kantipur Daily, Dec 22

The Jhupra Drinking Water Project (JDWP) has started supplying drinking water to Surkhet Valley from yesterday. “The water tank constructed at Itram was full of water last morning,” JDWP head Balaram Sharma said. “At least 2,600 water taps in ward numbers 5 to 11 of Birendranagar municipality have running water for 24 hours since yesterday,” Sharma said, adding water would be supplied to some 9,000 consumers by mid-March 2008. “We have set a target of supplying 76 liters of water per second. However, we are now supplying only 45 liters of water per second,” he said. “Birendranagar will start getting 60, 00,000 lakh liters of water daily very soon,” he added. The project began in 2001 and 94 per cent of the work has been completed, he said, adding that Rs 25, 86, 90,383 will be spent on the construction.
Source….. The Himalayan Times, Dec 23

Employees of the Sanitation Fee Collection Unit of Pokhara Sub-metropolis are without work for ever since their appointment. The sub-metropolis had assigned nine staffers including an officer to collect sanitation fee from the households within the sub-metropolis in June, however, the staffers have to stay without work as the metropolis has not started collecting the fees yet, chief of the unit Ram Bahadur KC said. Though the sub-metropolis distributed sanitation fee cards to 70 per cent households of the sub-metropolis a year ago, the fee has not collected yet. A meeting of city council has already directed staffers to collect the fee; however, the staffers said they have not received any directive to collect the fee. The sub-metropolis has been spending over Rs 20 million on disposal of garbage.
Source….. The Himalayan Times, Dec 24

A project to treat wastewater, generate biogas and discharge treated water into the Punya Mata River got underway in Shreekhandapur, Dhulikhel, on December 28. The project is excepted to see the light of the day in three months. Locals hope that this project can indeed teach a lesson to people who have been living in settlements located near the rivers and finding it hard to keep the rivers clean. Biogas will be supplied through pipelines since mechanism to store biogas is lacking. The money generated by selling biogas will help keep the plant running. With support from Dhulikhel municipality, the local users’ committee will manage the plant and the Environment and Public Health Organisation will provide technical aid.
Source….. The Himalayan Times, Dec 31

Impoverished residents in the suburb of Carrupeia in Nampula, Mozambique's third largest city, do not have access to potable water because their water committee has effectively ceased to function. Government builds wells and sets up pumps in communities only after they have established water committees. The challenge for these committees is sustainability, says Joaquim Jorge, head of the Rural Water Department in the Ministry of Public Works and Housing. "When the community needs the water, they are quick to form a water committee, but the sustainability of that committee is a problem. We need to monitor the water committees and provide incentives to keep them active." "We need to reactivate the committees and also to sensitize the members again to the policy that orphans and other vulnerable members of the community should not pay for using the pump," says water and sanitation specialist Domingos Chiconela from UNICEF.
Source….. IRC Source Weekly No. 15

The 2007 Asia Water Development Outlook (AWDO) is cautiously optimistic about the region’s water future. With existing knowledge, experience, and technology, Asia’s water problems are solvable. If a crisis occurs this will be due to inadequate or inappropriate water governance, and not physical scarcity of water. This is one of the main messages of the AWDO, which was commissioned by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) as part of its support to the Asia-Pacific Water Forum (APWF). Some of the important issues related to water and sanitation that are mentioned are getting the poor connected to piped water and stopping open defecation. The AWDO introduces the new Index of Drinking Water Adequacy (IDWA), which is based on five key indicators for resources, quality, use, capacity and access. Malaysia and South Korea top the IDWA ranking of Asian countries while Lao PDR and Cambodia have the lowest scores.
Source….. Asia water development outlook 2007, Asian Development Bank

Many individual states release more greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions than entire groups of developing countries. Forty-two U.S. states individually emit more carbon dioxide than 50 developing countries combined, and three states individually emit more CO2 than 100 developing countries. Taking Responsibility, a new report by the National Environmental Trust of America, examines the greenhouse gas emissions of U.S. states as compared to developing countries and underscores the moral necessity for the United States to assume global leadership in ongoing efforts to craft a new post-Kyoto global climate treaty. Featuring a state by state profile of GHG emissions, the report also examines individual and collective efforts by U.S. states to reduce GHG emissions.
Source….. Environmental Health News, Dec 2007

Local authorities have arrested at least 100 Ugandans for failing to build toilets in their homes in the midst of a cholera epidemic that has killed 8 people and infected 164, state media reported Wednesday.
"We cannot watch as people die (of cholera)," northwestern Bulisa district administrator Norbert Turyahikayo told the New Vision daily, justifying the arrest of Ugandans found to have huts with no pit latrines Tuesday. Police spokesman Hassan Kasinje told Reuters the building of homes without proper toilets was forbidden in Uganda, though he did not know of the arrests. "It is illegal ... but it is not an arrestable offence. Whoever arrested them is wrong," he said. "A health officer is supposed to instruct them to build or they can be cautioned." In September, 70 Ugandans in the east were seized for the same offence. Many in remote villages lack latrines. Cholera epidemics spread by poor sanitation are common. Source….. Reuters, Dec 19

California will now have high-efficiency toilets and urinals. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has come up with a bill to reduce se of water in toilets. The drought situation in the US state has forced Californians to resort to conservation. The Colorado River Basin, an important source of water supply for Southern California, experienced consecutive years of drought from 2000-2004.

The bill proposes new flush volume standards. By 2014, all toilets installed in buildings will not be allowed to use more than 4.8 l of water per flush, down from the current 6 l limit. Dual flush toilets are expected to reduce water used for urinals from 3.7 l to 1.8 l. The new standards will be implemented in phases from January 2010; all new toilets installed or sold would need to be high-efficiency models by 2014. An average resident uses around 265-303 l of water a day indoors, with toilets accounting for approximately one-third of water use—more than any other indoor source.
Source….. Down to Earth, Dec 31

To unsubscribe please email us at: rc@enpho.org with "unsubscription" in the subject field.