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Nepal | Fresh Water as a Precious Commodity

Fresh Water as a Precious Commodity

Nepal / Disaster relief & reconstruction

AVC humanitarian aid has set in motion the production of simple but effective water filters to ensure the long-term supply of drinking water in Nepal. Such a bio sand filter supplies a family with up to 80 litres of drinking water per day.

Fresh Water as a Precious Commodity

Initial situation and challenges

On 25 April 2015, an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.8 shook Nepal and laid it in ruins - followed by numerous aftershocks, some of which were equally devastating, until the end of July. Nearly 8,800 people died, over 22,000,000 were injured and entire villages were wiped out. The supply collapsed - there was a lack of clean drinking water, food and electricity. The already precarious drinking water supply was aggravated by the earthquake - numerous wells and springs were destroyed.

Three years after the earthquake catastrophe, the reconstruction of houses is only progressing at a snail's pace. Of the 4.1 billion dollars promised by the International Conference for the Reconstruction of Nepal, only a small percentage has so far been disbursed. Where help is visible, large foreign organizations were at work, smaller NGOs are not allowed to rebuild houses. The government sits on the international aid money and controls the money tap. Money flows into the pockets of corrupt officials to the chagrin of the castes and destitute and seeps away like water in the sand.

  • Important facts
    • Capital
    • Kathmandu
    • Area
    • 147 181 km2
    • Inhabitants
    • 29,3 millions
    • Life expectancy
    • 71 years
    • Child mortality rate
    • 27,9 (per 1000)
    • Literacy
    • 63,9%
    • Religion
    • 81,3% Hindus
    • 9% Buddhists
    • 4,4% Muslims
    • 3,1% Kirati
    • 1,4% Christians
    • 0,5% Others
    • 0,2% unspecified
  • Capital
  • Kathmandu
  • Area
  • 147 181 km2
  • Inhabitants
  • 29,3 millions
  • Life expectancy
  • 71 years
  • Child mortality rate
  • 27,9 (per 1000)
  • Literacy
  • 63,9%
  • Religion
  • 81,3% Hindus
  • 9% Buddhists
  • 4,4% Muslims
  • 3,1% Kirati
  • 1,4% Christians
  • 0,5% Others
  • 0,2% unspecified

Aims

The long-term securing of drinking water in Nepal.

AVC humanitarian aid trains local employees in the production of organic sand filters.

"The sand purifies the water so that it gets drinking water quality. It reliably filters bacteria, viruses and heavy metals."

John

Commitment

Fresh water as a precious commodity

Access to clean drinking water is a human right, but fresh water remains a dream for many Nepalese. The only water sources are brown streams and rivers. In the Terai region adjacent to India, the water is additionally contaminated by arsenic-containing ores and too high an iron content, which leads to diarrhoea and skin diseases as well as kidney and liver damage.

After the earthquake, employees of our partners were trained in the production of organic sand filters to produce clean drinking water in cooperation with a project manager from Thailand and a local NGO. In the following two years, 2000 filters were produced and distributed to affected families.

The project continues. The filters clean water reliably from bacteria, viruses and heavy metals and are produced on site with existing material. The impressively simple filters supply a family with up to 80 litres of drinking water per day. Maintenance is very simple and can be done by the families themselves - there is also a hotline for questions. The organic sand filters not only ensure short-term survival, but also ensure a long-term supply of fresh water.

Needy recipients pay a symbolic contribution of the equivalent of CHF 5 for an organic sand filter. This amount flows into a fund for income generation and thus creates new prospects for the future for more people.

Financing needs

Expenses

Salaries

financed

1,000 organic sand filters: manufacture, distribution, maintenance

CHF 40 per piece

Total 2021

Total project costs 2021

CHF 40'000

Gabriela Wittwer
For any questions:

Gabriela Wittwer
Phone +41 (0)32 356 00 86
mail@avc-humanitarianaid.ch

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