DHULIKHEL DRINKING WATER SUPPLY PROJECT1. INTRODUCTION

Dhulikhel drinking water supply project is located at Dhulikhel Municipality,Karve in Nepal. The project site is at 20 km east of Kathmandu City. The project was established under Government Agency of Nepal with financial and technical assistance from the Government of Germany (GTZ) with motto of SAFE DRINKING WATER FOR HEALTHY LIFE .The local Municipal Office provided the support during the planning, construction, and O&M phases of the project as well.

The project started in 1989 as a component of Dhulikhel Development Project, and completed in 1994. The water supply scheme fulfills about 80% of the water demand of the town through 605 private and 22 public taps. Before its implementation, people used localized springs and streams as their drinking water sources. Scarce water quality was a main cause of poor health among the water users. The Mayor took the leadership in advocating the importance of and need for safe drinking water for better health and improved sanitary conditions. The project was designed for full treatment of water with sedimentation, sand filter and chlorination facilities incorporated to the system. The users seriously questioned the projects cost, but once they understood the importance of safe water the project was well accepted. The system is now fully managed by a Users Committee of ten members including the Mayor. All the decisions regarding operation and management are entirely made by the Committee. A civil engineer with subordinate staff was recruited as a technical unit to look after all the technical matters.

LocationMunicipality of Dhulikhel, Nepal (20 km east of Kathmandu City).

Responsible OrganisationGovernment Agency of Nepal with financial and technical assistance from the Government of Germany (GTZ). The local Municipal Office provided the support during the planning, construction, and O&M phases of the project.

DescriptionThe project started in 1989 as a component of Dhulikhel Development Project, and completed in 1994. The water supply scheme fulfills about 80% of the water demand of the town through 605 private and 22 public taps. Before its implementation, people used localized springs and streams as their drinking water sources. Scarce water quality was a main cause of poor health among the water users. The Mayor took the leadership in advocating the importance of and need for safe drinking water for better health and improved sanitary conditions. The project was designed for full treatment of water with sedimentation, sand filter and chlorination facilities incorporated to the system. The users seriously questioned the projects cost, but once they understood the importance of safe water the project was well accepted. The system is now fully managed by a Users Committee of ten members including the Mayor. All the decisions regarding operation and management are entirely made by the Committee. A civil engineer with subordinate staff was recruited as a technical unit to look after all the technical matters.

Issues AddressedHealth, Capacity Building.

Results AchievedManagerial, technical, and financial capacity building at local level were successfully developed. Better services to the users increased their willingness to contribute and further support the plan for recovering both capital and operation costs.The service provides 24 hours supply. The percentages of the leakage and wastage in the system are kept below 10 percent.Reduction of water-borne diseases and of time spent by women and girl-children on water collection, allow them to use that time for other productive purposes and for taking better care of the children. As safe water is adequately available household sanitation conditions have been improved.The success of the water system opened avenues for the Water Users Committee to venture into other developmental and social activities like promotion of sanitation, solid waste disposal, establishment of a nursing home, establishment of schools and colleges, etc. and ultimately the extension of such services to the adjoining areas.

Lessons LearnedPartnership between the users, the municipality, the government agency and the donor was key in implementation of the project. Involvement of the beneficiary communities from the very beginning of the project to the completion stage, and carrying out the related measures of capacity building to enable the committee of local users, have given very fruitful results in implementing and managing medium sized projects like the ones at Dhulikhel, Kakarbhitta, Damak and Sanischare.The introduction of a policy of supporting such projects with initial financial support for the first three years maximum in a declining manner, attracted the water users committee to come forward and take over the operation and management of the systems.Despite a general belief that is the Governments obligation to provide water free of charges, the community organizations were able to persuade the users to pay for the services from the public stand-posts and convert them into metered community taps. The Users Committee levied the water tariff even higher than the normal water tariff set by the public water utilities in other towns of Nepal and there was no complain from the beneficiaries.Strong local leadership was continuously available for both the pre- and post-construction phases of the project and the beneficiaries were involved in all the stages of planning construction, operation, and management. It was an innovative scheme in which the users took full responsibility for its operation and management. This also proved that usersmanagement is better than the conventional top-down approach. Social acceptance and consensus also played a very important role; the local people are fully satisfied with the services provided and are more willing to pay for better services.

ContactMr. Bel Prasad Shrestha, MayorDhulikhel, Kabhre, NepalTel. (977 011) 613 24, (977 011) 613 29

TRIP REPORT ON FIELD VISIT TO DHULIKHEL DRINKING WATER SUPPLYPROJECTIntroductionOn 30 April 2008, we visited Dhulikhel Water Supply Project installed in DhulikhelMunicipality.Our goal wasto gain knowledge about workingof a water supplyproject.Dhulikhel. We were guided by our tutor Mrs. Shalu Sharma during the field visit.DiscussionThe project includes Dhulikhel Water Supply, Panauti Water Supply Extension and distributionto Chaukot, Taukhal and Kharibot. The base year of the project was 1987 which was estimated tobe completed by 2012. The estimated cost for the water supply project was Rs. 34.78 million andthe actual cost was 37.76 million.ProjectEstmatedCost(Rs.)FactualCost(Rs.)DhulikhelWaterSupply33,782,951/-36,633,249/-PanautiWaterSupplyExtension771,000/-698,021/-Chaukot+Taukhal+Kharibot235,000/-328,925/-Total34,788,951/-37,660,195/-The fund for the project is provided by foreign aid and HMG grant. Foreign grant making up35.7 million and HMG aid 1.96 million. The per capital cost of Dhulikhel Water Supply Projectis Rs. 2546.27. The cost per litre is Rs. 33.24 and per metre cost is Rs. 1495.23.The reservoir capacity is 5,00,000 litres consisting of two steel truss river crossings and 60different valve chambers. It also includes 9 fire hydrants. The source is a stream, Kharkhola andthe system typeof the project isgravity flow.Water from is sent intothe horizontal roughingunit consisting of gravels where water is partially cleaned. Water is then taken to sedimentationtank that consists of fine sand at the bottom where heavier particles settle down. After this water

is sent in the chlorination chamber for chlorination. From here it is sent to the reservoir forstorage. Then water is sent for distribution.Fig: Schematic diagram of Dhulikhel Water Supply ProjectIndex1.HorizontalRoughingUnit2.PlainSedimentationTank3.Reservoir4. ChlorinationUnit5,6.StaffQuarterThe transmission main pipeline is 13.5 KM and distribution line is 11 KM. The transmissionmain consists of Bhumedanda VDC, Malpi VDC, Panauti VDC, Subagaon VDC, and DhulikhelVDC. The distribution line includes Ward No. 1 to 7 of Dhulikhel Municipality. The estimatedbenefited population in the base year was 6,840 while in the completion year it is estimated to be14,387.The water demand inthe base year was 5, 50,000 litres per daywhile in the 2012 it isestimated to be 11, 02,000 litres per day. The discharge of the source in April 1988 was 32.24litres per second.

is sent in the chlorination chamber for chlorination. From here it is sent to the reservoir forstorage. Then water is sent for distribution.Fig: Schematic diagram of Dhulikhel Water Supply ProjectIndex1.HorizontalRoughingUnit2.PlainSedimentationTank3.Reservoir4. ChlorinationUnit5,6.StaffQuarterThe transmission main pipeline is 13.5 KM and distribution line is 11 KM. The transmissionmain consists of Bhumedanda VDC, Malpi VDC, Panauti VDC, Subagaon VDC, and DhulikhelVDC. The distribution line includes Ward No. 1 to 7 of Dhulikhel Municipality. The estimatedbenefited population in the base year was 6,840 while in the completion year it is estimated to be14,387.The water demand inthe base year was 5, 50,000 litres per daywhile in the 2012 it isestimated to be 11, 02,000 litres per day. The discharge of the source in April 1988 was 32.24litres per second.