ADB_book_18 April.qxp - Himalayan Document Centre - icimod

Table 5.3: Type of Water Sources Used by HouseholdsDrinking Water Total Households % of Total U/R hh % of Total M/H/T Households (hh)Source Number % Urban Rural Mountain Hill TeraiTap water 2,209,760 52.9 65.4 50.6 72.2 72.2 30.8Tube well 1,184,156 28.4 23.1 29.4 0.0 2.4 58.6Well 377,241 9.0 5.9 9.6 6.2 12.0 6.5Stone spout 267,180 6.4 3.3 7.0 17.1 10.1 1.1River 61,400 1.5 0.5 1.7 3.4 2.0 0.6Other 74,721 1.8 1.8 1.8 1.0 1.2 2.5Households 4,174,457 100.0 664,505 3,509,952 285,217 1,950,345 1,938,895hh = households , M/H/T = Mountain, Hill, or Terai, U/R hh = urban or rural householdsSource: CBS (2002) Table 1 .Table 5.4: Household Access to Drinking Water Sources (%)RegionPiped to HousePiped Outside ofHouseCovered Well Open Well Other TotalMountain 10.5 61.8 1.2 2.5 24.1 100Hill 23.5 46.3 4.1 4.6 21.5 100Terai 6.2 8.5 74.6 5.1 5.6 100Rural 6.7 32.5 39.6 4.9 16.2 100Urban 53.3 14.3 25.3 3.4 3.9 100Nepal 14.4 29.5 37.2 4.7 14.2 100Source: NLSS (2004)29%. While tap water is the dominant source in theMountains and Hills, tube wells dominate in theTerai. All the sources of water listed in Table 5.3 areused by some households in all three regions, excepttube wells which are not available in the Mountains.Access to Drinking Water SupplyAccording to the latest survey (NLSS 2004), the shareof households with access to piped water in 1995/96was 32%, which increased to 53% in 2003/04 (Table5.4). The latter consists of households with waterpiped to the house (14%) and households with pipedwater outside of the house (30%). About 39% of allrural households have access to piped watercompared with 68% in urban areas. Access to pipedwater is lowest in the Terai; 75% of Terai householdshave access to covered wells (tube well), whereas62% of the households in the Mountains have accessto piped water outside the house (community tap).Other water sources include rivers, streams, andponds.Water QuantityTable 5.5 summarizes the water supply and demandcondition within and outside Kathmandu Valley, aswell as water treatment and leakage problems ingeneral. The share of total production capacity ofdrinking water in the region outside KathmanduValley increased from 31% in 1999 to 42% in 2001. Therelative demand and average daily production ofwater show a similar situation. The Valley’s water tapconnections constitute slightly over three fifthscompared with two fifths of the outside valley area,but the relative share of the latter increased between1999 and 2001. Treated water represents about 50%(NWSC 2001).To date, about 72% of the country’s totaldrinking water demand has been met (NPC 2002).Access to safe drinking water in rural areas hasincreased compared with that in urban areas due tothe relative decrease in rural population growthcompared with urban population growth. Each yearthe drinking water demand grows, and as a result,pressure on the existing output of water is intense.Over the last few decades, the population has grownat a rate of over 2% per annum. The area ofagricultural land has also increased, demandingadditional irrigation water. Natural factors such aslandslides and floods have also put pressure onwater resources by damaging reservoirs andirrigation canals.The pressure on drinking water sources isintense in large cities due to rapid urbanization. Forexample, most of the surface water sources inKathmandu Valley have been tapped for waterChapter 5: Water Resources57