In this issue
EDITORIAL
March 22, World Water Day was a day to a celebrate water and sanitation. It was a day for us to reflect on our activities and reaffirm our commitments to help communities, particularly the poor, gain access to safe water and improved sanitation. This year is the International Year of Sanitation (IYS) and we focus our attention on sanitation: sanitation for health, dignity and human development. ENPHO has plans to conduct various programmes throughout the year to celebrate IYS. These include the Sanitation and Hygiene Improvement Training (SHIT) series, which is a series of five three-day training packages on ecological sanitation, constructed wetlands, solid waste management, biogas and total sanitation. The programme aims to build local capacity on innovative technologies and practices to promote sanitation. We call upon all stakeholders to join hands to work towards improved access to toilets, environmentally sound systems for waste and wastewater management and promotion of hygienic behavior. Let’s make this a productive year for sanitation.
Several innovative technologies and practices have been developed and piloted in Nepal to address various aspects of sanitation and its promotion. The challenge now is to build local capacity to scale up the application of these best practices and learn from each other as we mainstream these innovations.Therefore, as part of the International Year of Sanitation 2008 celebrations, Environment and Public Health Organization (ENPHO) is planning to organize a series of training called “Sanitation and Hygiene Improvement Training (SHIT), which will focus on Appropriate Technologies and Practices for Effective Sanitation. The series will include five training programmes, of three days each. Each programme will include presentation from experts, interaction among participants, field visits and hands on exercises. The topics and tentative dates for the training are as follows:
- 23-25 April, 2008: Ecological Sanitation – Concepts to Practice
- 25-27 June, 2008: Constructed Wetlands for wastewater treatment and recycling
- 14-16 August, 2008: Solid waste management
- 9-11 October, 2008: Biogas from waste and waste water
- 18-20 December, 2008: Community and School Led Total Sanitation
Each training programme will have about 20 participants. The training module will be as follows:Day 1: Introduction
- Introduction to the technology/practice
- Application of the technology/practice in Nepal
Day 2: Technical & Procedural Aspects
- Technical details and designs or detail methodology
- Field visit
Day 3: Promotion of the technology/practice
- Case study
- Group exercise
- Evaluation
The training programmes are designed for people who have a deep interest in the topic and will actually use the knowledge gained for further research or field application. Sanitation engineers, programme managers, researchers, and environmental science/engineering students will benefit from these training. We encourage you to join us and learn from one another.
:: ENPHO NEWS ::
PROMOTING SODIS FOR SAFE DRINKING WATER
ENPHO, with support from EAWAG/SANDEC has completed a project for scaling up institutionalization of SODIS technology in Nepal as per the agreement made with EAWAG/SANDEC. Since 2003, ENPHO has been continuously promoting SODIS through women saving groups, city volunteers and female health workers at community level. As a result, more than 8,000 households have adopted SODIS technology to disinfect their drinking water. Similarly, government institutions have included SODIS in their on going programs. Department of Water Supply and Sewerage (DWSS) has promoted SODIS in 11 schools in Pokhara and ENPHO, in coordination with UNICEF is also promoting it in various schools and at community levels.
DISSEMINATING SOLVATTEN RESEARCH FINDINGS
A National Level workshop to disseminate findings of Research on Assessing the Effectiveness of SOLVATTEN in natural condition of Nepal was organized by ENPHO in collaboration with Department of Water Sanitation and Sewage (DWSS) and UN-Habitat on Feb 28 at DWSS hall. SOLVATTEN is a new technology for point-of-use water treatment developed in Sweden. The technology uses solar energy to disinfect the water. ENPHO has tested the effectiveness of SOLVATTEN, a household level drinking water treatment method at various geographical and climatic conditions. Apart from disseminating the findings of the study, the workshop also highlighted the importance of promoting various household level drinking water treatment options in Nepal.
ENVIRONMENTAL SANITATION IN CHAMPAPUR AND KIRTIPUR
ENPHO has completed the construction of 50 Ecosan toilets and 54 Sulav toilets in Champapur VDC. Similarly 1250 sqm of brick paving and 420 m of drainage improvement work have been completed. ENPHO has also conducted various trainings on Ecosan, solid waste management, point of use drinking water treatment options, health and hygiene and water and sanitation for capacity building of local people and volunteers. ENPHO has also initiated similar activities in Kirtipur under environmental sanitation improvement program. Clean up campaigns and exposure visits were carried out in both the areas.
CDM ON IMPROVED WATER MILLS
On 5 February ENPHO’s Executive Director Bhushan Tuladhar was invited by the Ministry of Environment, Science and Technology to review the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) proposal on Improved Water Mills (IWM) prepared by Alternative Energy Promotion Centre (AEPC). IWM is a modified version of the traditional water mill which results in almost doubling of agro-processing capacity and it can also provide diverse services such as hulling, oil expelling and saw milling. So far more than 1000 IWM have already been installed in 42 districts of Nepal. The CDM proposes to add 8000 more IWM by the end of 2010 and save 261,065 tons of CO2 equivalent over a 10 year period.
SAFE DRINKING WATER CAMPAIGN LAUNCHED
DWSS, UN-HABITAT and the Coca Cola Company officially launched a public-private partnership campaign for safe drinking water on March 9 at Hotel Himalaya. The campaign aims at spreading awareness on simple household water treatment options including chlorination, filtration, boiling and solar radiation in urban and peri-urban communities to improve access to safe water and reduce diarrhoel diseases. ENPHO is the implementing body in this campaign.
PARTICIPATION IN WORKSHOPS AND SEMINARS
- Program Manager Prajwal Shrestha presented a case study on “Community managed Reedbed Wastewater Treatment Systems” at South Asia Sanitation and Hygiene Practitioners’ Workshop from Jan 29-31 in Bangladesh. The theme of this workshop was “Beyond Construction, Use by All” where 53 sanitation and hygiene promotion practitioners met to mark the start of International Year of Sanitation by sharing and learning from their peers. Each attending organization presented a case study on their works and came to the workshop to form a Community of Practitioners for sharing these experiences, reflecting on the challenges in the region and identifying ways to work together.
- Project Manager Indra Gurung took part in a two days National Workshop on “Clean Indoor Air: The Right to a Healthy Life” organized jointly by Indoor Air Pollution and Health Forum Nepal, Practical Action Nepal and World Health Organization in Kathmandu on Feb 10 & 11.
- Deputy Executive Director Dr. Suman K. Shakya visited the Center of Excellence, University of Yamanashi, Faculty of Engineering in Takeda Kofu Yamanashi, Japan from Feb 16-25. During the visit, Dr. Shakya attended final thesis defense of Ph. D. Scholars of University of Yamanashi, participated in a series of collaboration meetings and also delivered a presentation on behalf of ENPHO.
- Centre for Affordable Water and Sanitation Technology (CAWST), Canada – a partner agency of ENPHO and The Alberta Council for Global Cooperation (ACGC), Canada together invited Program Manager Bipin Dangol to give presentation at “Global Voices: Sharing our vision” conference from Feb 21-23 at Edmonton, Canada. Mr. Dangol made presentation on ENPHO’s activities directed towards contributing to MDG targets on water and sanitation where he used local case studies to show simple and effective solutions for water and sanitation. He also shared best practices and honest dialogue about what is happening in the field and demonstrated the interconnectivity of the MDGs, linking environmental sustainability to reducing child mortality.Similarly, Mr. Dangol made presentations at several talk programmes such as Volunteers’ Appreciation Night, Influencers’ Night, School Programmes and Community Groups organized by CAWAST at Calgary. He made presentations on water and sanitation situation of Nepal, ENPHO’s activities on improving environment and public health particularly by providing access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation, and CAWST – ENPHO partnership for promoting household water treatment technologies through capacity building at local level. He also had meetings with CAWST staffs to discuss on plans for future activities and partnership.
- Shashank Pandey from ENPHO facilitated a workshop on implementation of Biosand Filter organized by Pokhara Engineering College and Centre for affordable Water and Sanitation Technology (CAWST) from March 4 - 7. The objective of the workshop was to teach the participants construct concrete Biosand Filters and also to trouble shoot various problems faced during construction.
- Executive Director Bhushan Tuladhar made the following presentations on various issues:
- 3 February: Presentation on Multipurpose Melamchi at ENPHO
- 6 February: Presentation on Solid Waste Management at a training program for journalists
- 9 February: Training on Solid Waste Management to City Volunteers of Kathmandu Metropolitan City
- 10 February: Environment Training for River Guides organized by Nepal River Conservation Trust
- 11 February: Presentation of a paper titled “Indoor Air Quality Management through Standards and Targets” at a national conference on Indoor Air Pollution and Health
- 13 February: Presentation to Cornell Nepal Programme on Urban Environment Management
- 17 February: Presentation on “Bagmati: Challenges and Opportunities” to a group of businessmen at Hotel adisson at a programme organized by Friends of Bagmati
- 26 February: Presentation on Urban Environment Management-Challenges and opportunities to Pitzer College students
- 27 February: Presentation of a paper titled “Kathmandu’s Air Pollution is Increasing” at a programme organized by Nepal Forum for Environmental Journalists
- 29 February: Panelist at a programme on Plastic Bags organized by RECPHEC
COMMUNITY EMPOWERMENT FOR BETTER HEALTH AND SANITATION
On the occasion of “World Water Day 2008” and targeting the gist of “International year of Sanitation”, health and hygiene training was conducted in the Pyang village of Chapagaon VDC. The main objective of this training programme was to increase the awareness level of local community people regarding proper sanitation practices such as use of proper toilet facility, hand washing etc. In addition to these sanitation practices, trainings on household level water treatment options like SODIS, chlorination, various filters were also given to the locals. To augment the effort of this programme, ENPHO and Rotary International distributed 60 units of Colloidal Silver (CS) filters to the community on March 23.
CELEBRATING ONE YEAR OF INTERACTION
ENPHO together with Green Youth Network and Clean Energy Nepal has been organizing interaction programs to introduce students to various important environmental issues and stimulate discussion on various aspects of these issues. Within a year, 21 such programs have been conducted. A program was organized at ENPHO to celebrate a year of interaction where letters of appreciation were distributed to the resource persons who have contributed in disseminating knowledge and stimulating discussions. Members of the Green Youth Network also discussed on their way ahead and expressed their opinions on how they can participate more effectively in addressing various environmental issues.
SHARING FRIDAY @ ENPHO
On March 14, ENPHO organized a special episode of Sharing Friday @ ENPHO on the occasion of World Water Day 2008. The major highlight of this program was the screening of a documentary “The Toilet Men” featured by The National Geographic Channel. Executive Director of ENPHO Bhushan Tuladhar made a presentation on the degrading sanitation situation of Nepal and elaborated on how improved sanitation can lead to reduced occurrences of diseases and also briefed on the economic and social issues related with sanitation. The other attraction of the program was the sharing of findings from the field on the situation of Public Toilets of Kathmandu that was conducted by members of Green Youth Network.
ENPHO CELEBRATES WORLD WATER DAY
The day began with the release of full page World Water Day messages, on The Himalayan Times and the Annapurna Post dailies, highlighting the issues and concerns on sanitation with commitment from various stakeholders under Steering Committee for National Sanitation Action (SCNSA) in Nepal. ENPHO coordinated with International Year of Sanitation 2008, Nepal Desk to publish this message. Then after, ENPHO, together with more than 10 partner organizations, walked along the Heritage Sites along Bagmati River (Teku Dovan to Kalmochan Ghat, Thapathali) which was followed by a rally passing through Tripureshwor and finishing at Exhibition spot at Basantapur. ENPHO also maintained an exhibition stall at the WATSAN exhibition coordinated by the Nepal River Conservation Trust (NRCT) focusing on water & sanitation issues. The display of Kanchan Biosand Filter, ECOSAN Toilet, and Piyush were major attractions of ENPHO stall.
:: LOCAL NEWS ::
MEET ON INDOOR AIR POLLUTION HELD
A two-day workshop on Clean Indoor Air: Right to a Healthy Life ended here on Monday urging the state to immediately make national policy on health, environment and energy sectors. The workshop organized by Indoor Air Pollution and Health Forum Nepal, WHO and Practical Action Nepal also adopted a 13-point Kathmandu Declaration. “The level of indoor air pollution in most of the rural households in Nepal is 15 times more than the WHO’s standard and requires legislative and policy measures to tackle the problem of IAP and to discuss the rights based approach to health issues”, Keshav Kumar Sharma, of Practical Action Nepal said. The Declaration has underscored the need to draft laws on rights and duties relating to IAP.
Source….. The Himalayan Times, Feb 13PACT TO WORK OUT WASTE DISPOSAL PLAN
Five separate long-term strategies and short-term action plans are being drafted to facilitate solid waste management in five municipalities of five development regions. An agreement has been reached between the Solid Waste Management and Resources Mobilization Centre (SWMRMC) of the Ministry of Local Development and the UN-Habitat to institute a fund for this purpose. The UN-Habitat has provided Rs 6 million. Funds collected will also be utilized for the preparation of status reports and databases of all 58 municipalities to help the government plan solid waste management activities. The UN-Habitat will support the SWMRMC and municipalities through capacity building in Clean Development Mechanism and climate change issues and demonstrate how such projects can be linked with recently established financing mechanisms for the Clean Development Mechanism.
Source….. The Himalayan Times, Feb 11PRIVATE FIRM TO MANAGE KATHMANDU'S WATER SUPPLY
Kathmandu Valley Drinking Water Limited has officially taken over the responsibility of carrying out water supply works in Kathmandu Valley from Sunday. The responsibility to manage valley's water supply was given to the firm established as per the public-private partnership concept following pressures from the Asian Development Bank and other donors to the government to handover the water distribution responsibility in Kathmandu valley to an autonomous body. This was also the main precondition of the Melamchi Drinking Water Project. The government has already handed over some assets and staff of Nepal Water Supply Corporation (NWSC) to Kathmandu Valley Water Supply Management Board (KVWSMB) which has, in turn, transferred those assets to the Limited. Following the handover, NWSC would from now on continue its work in 23 municipal corporations outside the valley.
Source….. www.nepalnews.com, Feb 14UN, COKE JOIN HANDS FOR WATER, SANITATION PROJECT
A joint collaboration of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT) and Coca-Cola, India, to improve water and sanitation programmes in five municipalities of the country is set to begin on March 9. The collaboration is going to be launched in Nepal for the first time after the April 2007 agreement between the UN-HABITAT and Coca-Cola, India, to collaborate on improving access of people of Nepal and India to safe drinking water and sanitation facilities. The programme aims at promoting point-of-use treatment of water, re-treatment of drinking water at the time of consumption to prevent health risks, and capacity building of the people to have access to safe drinking water. ENPHO is the implementing partner of the programme.
Source….. The Himalayan Times, March 4AIR POLLUTION INCREASING IN VALLEY
The Kathmandu Valley has experienced 17 per cent annual growth in the number of vehicles and vehicular emission has been a major cause of air pollution followed by dust and smokes from road repairs and brick kilns. In a workshop on 'Male Declaration on Control and Prevention of Air Pollution and its Likely Trans-boundary Effects for South Asia', speakers said that about 5,30,000 premature deaths in Asia occur every year because of outdoor air pollution. The Male Declaration was an agreement signed in 1997 between Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI), and the United Nations Environment Programme Regional Resource Centre, Asia and the Pacific to create an air pollution impact network and to promote the policy cycle in the region as part of the regional air pollution project in developing countries. A theme paper provided at the programme said that urbanization rate of Nepal remained high in comparison to other South Asian countries. Various air pollution studies, conducted so far, have clearly spelled out that Kathmandu's air quality did not meet the international standard.
Source….. The Rising Nepal, March 5BAGLUNG HQ FACES WATER SUPPLY SHORTAGE
Normal life in Baglung district headquarters, Baglung bazaar, has been affected after the supply of drinking water to the municipal area has been disrupted now for nearly a week. While locals have been spending hours to fetch drinking water, many hotels in Baglung bazaar have been closed. Locals have been fetching water from a tap located at ward No 11 of the municipality. Raju Sharma, an hotelier in Baglung, says he has been paying a very high price for water supplied by tankers. Ram Krishna Sharma, a sweet shop owner, said he has closed his shop due to the lack of drinking water.
The problem in water supply arose within months of handover of water supply management of the municipality to private sector. Rudra Mahat of Municipal Drinking Water Users Group said the problem arose after a pipe ruptured. He said the group is dedicated to solve the problems associated with improper supply management. He added the group has also been trying to solve the supply problem to some places within the municipality which are at a relatively higher altitude.
Source….. www.ngoforum.netILLEGAL OPERATION OF BRICK KILN
Illegal operation of brick kiln in Lahan district has put the lives of locals at stake. According to the law, the brick kilns must be situated 500 meter away from the village but this has not been followed here, said the locals.The harmful smoke emitted from the kiln is creating number of respiratory diseases, claim the locals. Brick kilns are being constructed against the law as per the permission of small cottage industries and this should be stopped. Brick kiln entrepreneurs must strictly follow the law and must realize the health problem caused by the smoke, said the villagers.
Source….. Cenews Vol 8, Number 11
:: GLOBAL NEWS ::
NIGERIA GOVERNMENT BACKS CONSTRUCTION OF MILLION LATRINES
The Federal Government has expressed willingness to support the construction of one million latrines throughout the country. Minister of Agriculture and Water Resources, Dr. Sayyadi Abba Ruma, said
the ministry will collaborate with other relevant agencies in the sanitation sub-sector to attain the International Year of Sanitation targets which include hand washing campaign as well as building one million latrines. The minister further stressed that the ministry would improve partnership with donor agencies in Nigeria to improve systems for the control of water borne diseases that undermine health care, raise cost and burden girls and women.
Source….. IRC Source WeeklyGLOBAL WARMING LEADS TO 150,000 DEATHS EVERY YEAR
Global warming is not only a threat to our future health, it already contributes to more than 150,000 deaths and 5 million illnesses annually, according to a team of health and climate scientists at the World Health Organization and the University of Wisconsin at Madison—and those numbers could double by 2030. Research data published in the journal Nature show that global warming may affect human health in a surprising number of ways: speeding the spread of infectious diseases such as malaria and dengue fever; creating conditions that lead to potentially fatal malnutrition and diarrhea; and increasing the likelihood of heat waves and floods. According to the Nature report, regions at highest risk for enduring the health effects of climate change include coastlines along the Pacific and Indian oceans and sub-Saharan Africa. Large sprawling cities, with their urban "heat island" effect, are also prone to temperature-related health problems. Africa has some of the lowest per-capita emissions of greenhouse gases. Yet, regions of the continent are gravely at risk for diseases related to global warming.
Source….. Environment Guide, March 5CHINA TO LOG ITS WORST POLLUTERS
China has begun an ambitious project to survey the country's major sources of pollution. Factories, farms and other polluters will have to declare how much, and what kind of pollutants, they discharge. The government admits it will be difficult to get companies to supply accurate data, so it is offering them immunity from fines and prosecution. But even with this incentive, some say the system has flaws which will make it difficult to get accurate information. Companies across the country are currently being asked to provide information for the China Pollution Source Census, which will be published next year.
In an interview with the BBC, Wang Yuqing, the man in charge of the project, said the main aim was to get a clear picture of China's pollution problem. The government will then use the information to develop new policies, he said. But getting a clear picture could be difficult, as companies are being asked to supply their own pollution data. Officials are concerned that some firms will cover up the amount of pollutants they discharge. Census officials have already set up a hotline so people can phone in and expose firms supplying false information.
Source….. BBC News ServiceBULAWAYO ENGULFED BY SEWAGE
Sewer pipes in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe are blocked, resulting in sewage overflowing into the streets from manholes. The city's unsanitary conditions have left residents fearful of a fresh outbreak of cholera. Service delivery has collapsed in Bulawayo, after local authorities recently announced that the municipality was insolvent and unable to cater to the needs of its almost two million residents. "Our major problem is a shortage of manpower to deal with more than 500 reported cases of sewer bursts," says Phathisa Nyathi, the city municipality's spokesman. Most of the families can no longer afford standard toilet paper and have to resort to newspapers or torn pieces of cardboard boxes for their ablutions, says council worker Jotham Ncube. Blockages are also occurring from the accumulation of sand in sewer pipes. "People use river sand to clean their soot-covered pots” and the dirty water is then flushed down the toilet.
Source….. IRIN NewsGOVERNMENT FULLY COMMITTED TO PROVIDE WASH FACILITIES IN SCHOOLS
The government of the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) Pakistan is fully committed to provide water and sanitation facilities and hygiene education in schools so as to enhance enrollment and retention in the schools in addition to protection of children's health. In this regard, appropriate standards for school water and sanitation facilities will be enforced while hygiene education will be integrated in teacher training curricula. Secretary Department of Schools and Literacy Govt. of NWFP, Shaifullah Khan said this while chairing a coordination meeting on School Sanitation and Hygiene Education (SSHE) at the Provincial Institute for Teacher Education (PITE) Peshawar, which has established a UNICEF-supported School Sanitation and Hygiene Education Centre. Since its establishment in May 2007 the Centre has trained over 500 education managers, supervisors, administrators and school teachers on SSHE. The participants of the meeting stressed the need to involve community and health professionals for the promotion of school sanitation and hygiene education programmes and use Parent Teacher Council (PTC) funds for operation and maintenance of water and sanitation facilities at school. They agreed also to establish a coordination group on SSHE, establishment of a mailing list and publication of a quarterly newsletter.
Source….. International Water and Sanitation Centre NewsKEEPING CLEAN AND GROWING GREEN
Homes in Aceh, Indonesia, destroyed in the tsunami in December 2004 have been replaced by better houses with proper sanitation facilities. In 274 newly constructed homes in Lamkruet, septic tanks were installed to provide a receptacle for waste and prevent it from leaking into the groundwater, which is often used as a source of drinking water. The waste water from the septic tanks is filtered and used to fertilize plants and flowers. Solid waste disposal facilities were constructed in Lamkruet as well. Garbage is collected from each house three times a week in return for a small fee. At the new waste facility outside the village, organic waste is composted, inorganic waste is separated for recycling and non-recyclable waste is collected. This reduces the volume of waste dumped in the city landfill by over 60 per cent. “This household-level solution for the liquid and solid waste is both safe for the environment and, most importantly, safe for the residents’ health,” says UNICEF’s Project Officer for water and environmental sanitation in Banda Aceh, Dara Johnston.
Source….. People and Planet News Release
:: New Arrivals @ the enpho Resource Center ::
Applied research on arsenic in Bangladesh Water safety plans; supporting water safety management for urban piped water supply in developing countries Water safety plans; planning water safety management for urban piped water supply in developing countries Proposal writing and fundraising Participatory monitoring and evaluation Guidelines for improving your skills in project proposal writing, report presentation Fundamentals of monitoring and evaluation National drinking water quality standards Chemical safety of drinking water: assessing priorities for risk management Country paper on sanitation in Nepal Guidelines for establishment of accreditation of health laboratories Proceeding of international symposium on "community led management of river environment" Journal of water and health, Vol 5, Supplement 1 To unsubscribe please email us at: rc@enpho.org with "unsubscription" in the subject field.
Any part of this publication may be reproduced in whole or in part and in any form for educational or non-profit purposes without special permission from ENPHO, provided acknowledgement of the source is made. ENPHO would appreciate receiving a copy of any material that uses this publication as a source.Edited by: Bhushan Tuladhar & Kshitiz Shrestha
Designed by: Babukaji Magar
Environment and Public Health Organization
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