Dhankuta Municipality, Ward-08, ICIMOD, HUSADEC, and SmartPaani Pvt. Ltd. had collaborated intending to provide an alternative water source- Rainwater and a safe drinking water facility to the community of 26 HHs at Mathilo Khambela, Dhankuta-08. With this collaboration, it was identified to provide the proper solution to the community as the water source is unreliable for the quantity and quality supply. Whether it be carrying water, suffering from water-borne diseases or poor sanitation, the community is facing a lot of issues related to water. This site were also considered to be a demonstration to the entire Dhankuta Municipality for Rainwater Filtration and Collection System. SmartPaani Rainwater Harvesting system is one of the solutions provided by SmartPaani that helps in collecting, filtering and reusing the rainwater. In the case of this community, water supply is intermittent, so rainwater harvesting and the added storage help fill the gap. In addition to an intermittent supply, in the monsoon the supplied water is highly contaminated and turbid, so substituting rainwater helps provide a better quality water. Drinking water filtration helps reduce waterborne diseases and fuel wood or gas used.
- Targeted community: Community of 26 HHs at Mathilo Khambela Aath Pahariya, Dhankuta-08
- System: Rainwater Harvesting System
A RapidSand Filter of SP-500 at the community. The installed System includes the following components:
- Catchment Area: 4 buildings in the cluster community was considered for the installation of the system. The entire roofplan of the four buildings with sloped roof in community (1624sq.ft) was considered as the catchment area. [Note: The catchment area considered in this system was dependent to the budget of the system.]
- Gutter: Rain Gutters 4″ PVC Pipe with necessary clips, clamps and accessories was provided for the rainwater routing.
- Downpipes: The routing of the rainwater to the system is done through 4”PVC pipelines. The routing pipes are buried 40 cm below the ground level maintain the slope.
- SmartPaani RapidSand Filter (RSF): SmartPaani Rainwater Harvesting filter consists of two components:
- Automatic first flush: The system has a first flush chamber, which has been designed and sized as per international norms. The first rainwater that has the maximum pollutants gets collected in this unit and then is automatically flushed out through a valve.
- RapidSand Filter: The second chamber of the filter is a RapidSand filter. This filter is designed to filter out the physical contaminants from rainwater in real-time. It is provided with 4 layered media varying from 2-40 mm media sizes.
- Collection Tank: The post-filtration collection tanks installed in community collects the filtered water in 2units of 5000L collection tank that is based on the budget of the overall project. The collection tanks can be the add-ons in future if required. There is also a provision to tap out the filtered rainwater.
WASH Training:
A training program was conducted to aware the community people on safe health and sanitation practices. The objectives of the Training were:
- Awareness on the importance of Clean & Safe Water
- Awareness on the importance of Sanitation and Hygiene
- Ways to maintain and improve personal hygiene and of the surrounding area
- Product information on SmartPaani Filtration Systems
- Detailed understanding of Tripti Filter
Results and Impacts
The installation of a Rainwater harvesting system and 10,000 liter collection tank has assisted 26 HHs in the Aath Pahariya community. Prior to the system’s installation, residents had to walk an hour or more to reach the spring source in order to collect water for domestic use and drinking. Furthermore, the municipal water supply was only provided once every ten days, making it an unreliable source of water. Each household had a water storage capacity of around 200L only which was not enough for everyday use. The 10,000L common collection tank has made convenient for residents to fetch water whenever required. Time has been saved, clean water has been made available, and thanks to our Tripti filter, people can now drink safe water. There were times when people had difficulties in celebrating their festivals due to lack of sufficient water. But now it has changed. They have access to adequate water, thereby has helped to celebrate their festival properly. Now, there is a plan to increase the collection capacity further with 5000L by collaborating with the ward. This will definitely enhance the living of Aath Pahariya community.
“The system has made the lives of the residents better. We can now get safe, clean water because of SmartPaani.” – Ras Bahadur Rai, Chairperson- Ward 08, Dhankuta Municipality
