ADB_book_18 April.qxp - Himalayan Document Centre - icimod

Table 2.24: Existing and Projected Rural Population Drinking Water CoverageRegion Population 2001Coverage(%)Population 2007Coverage(%)Population 2015Coverage(%)Mountain 1,461,327 77 1,564,008 92 1,717,433 100Hill 8,360,758 66 9,294,045 89 10,749,057 100Terai 9,686,970 72 11,316,490 94 13,957,008 100Nepal 19,509,055 71 22,174,543 92 26,423,498 100Source: DWSS (2002)Table 2.25: Toilet Accessibility by Region and Rural–Urban AreasRegionTotal ToiletHouseholds% ToiletCoverageToilet as % ofhhToilet as % ofRural Toilet hhToilet as % ofUrban Toilet hhModern Ordinary Total Ordinary Total OrdinaryMountain 115,157 40.4 7.9 32.5 41.6 82.2 65.4 68.4Hill 1,088,474 55.8 26.9 28.9 48.4 60.4 87.5 31.3Terai 722,121 37.3 20.6 16.6 32.6 48.9 64.1 32.1Nepal 1,925,752 46.1 22.7 23.4 40.3 57.6 77.1 32.1hh = householdsSource: CBS (2002b)households had toilets compared with 77% in urbanareas. In the Terai region 49% of rural householdswith a toilet had an ordinary toilet; whereas in theother two regions, the proportion was over 60%. Inthe Mountain region, 82% of households with a toilethad an ordinary toilet.Open defecation is common for householdsthat do not have toilets. This is the main source ofwaterborne diseases. Thus mere curative healthfacilities such as provision of health service units andother types of facilities will not control commondiseases related to poor sanitation. Health programand policy measures should focus on maximizingaccess to safe drinking water and toilet (sanitation)facilities and increasing awareness of people of theneed to use toilets. This will not only minimizeexpenses on health problems in the long run, butalso mitigate the sanitation-related poor environment,which again will curtail the ever-increasingcost of medical care.Wastewater GenerationWastewater refers to water that has been used and isno longer clean. Table 2.26 summarizes thewastewater situation in rural and urban areas ofNepal. The total wastewater generation for 2001 hasbeen estimated at 981 thousand cubic meters (m 3 )per day for the country as a whole based on Metcalfand Eddy (1999). The wastewater generation perhectare in rural areas is 60 m 3 ; it is 9 times as high inurban areas (530 m 3 ). Most of the large cities andtowns are in the Hill and Terai regions, and as a resultthe wastewater generated in the Hills and Terai ismuch higher than in the mountains. Environmentalpollution (rivers, ponds, groundwater, and air) due toincreasing wastewater generation is basically anurban problem. Compared with urban areas, thepollution due to wastewater is less significant in ruralareas. However, other factors such as opendefecation, industries, agri-pests, and fertilizers affectthe environment in rural areas.In urban areas of Nepal, kitchen, laundry, andbath wastewater are normally mixed with toiletwastewater and connected to the drain, which isthen directly discharged into the local river. Industrialwastewater is also directly discharged into rivers inmost cases. There is no recycling or reuse ofwastewater in urban areas 2 . However, reuse ofwastewater is made at the individual farmer level.Vegetable farming in Kathmandu Valley is oftenirrigated by household wastewater. The use ofdomestic wastewater is a tradition of local farmers.Domestic wastewater is usually accumulated inTable 2.26: Wastewater (Sewage) Generation ( ’000m 3 )RegionWastewater (ww) Urban Ruralgeneration/day ww/ha ww/haMountain 68.95 0.15 0.01Hill 437.89 0.65 0.06Terai 474.36 0.47 0.12Nepal 981.21 0.53 0.06ha = hectare, m 3 = cubic meter, ww = wast ewaterSource: Me tcalf and Eddy (1999)2A very small portion of the wastewater draining into the Bagmati River from Kathmandu is treated in the middle section at the Pashupati temple area, which is mainlyfor religious purposes; further downstream wastewater is discharged into the river without treatment.20 Environment Assessment of Nepal : Emerging Issues and Challenges