Making Water Count

 A school is about well-lit airy classrooms, excellent teachers, blackboards, chalks, students in clean uniform, books, notebooks, sports, playgrounds, library, computers, etc, it is also about clean water. Imagine spending over six hours five to six days in school and not have access to clean water. Where will the school find water? How does the school deal with the odd water supply hours and inadequate water that comes from the water pipes?

Mangal Higher Secondary School had an interesting and a practical answer to its water woes. This school located within a few minutes walking distance from Kirtipur gate has invested in rainwater harvesting system. It was installed with financial support from Kirtipur Municipality four years ago. The rainwater is collected in big plastic tanks. The stored water is used to clean the school, particularly the toilets. The collected rainwater comes very handy after the sports classes and matches, when shoes get dirty.

The school also buys about 18,000 litres of water every month for drinking purpose. They have set up two water guards to filter the water before drinking. However, the school faces water shortage during winter months (December and January) despite the water harvesting and use of water from the school’s well.

Pradip Maharjan, principal of the school stated that Kirtipur had a history of acute shortage of water. And the school had to deal with its fair share of challenges too. The increased enrolment in school and the surge in the population of the city greatly compounded the water problem. The municipality started to pump waters only twice a week to the city. That too happened when the school was not in session. Since the school had not employed anyone to stay behind during off school hours to draw water during supply hours; they were unable to store it. So, installing a water harvesting system was a good way of storing water for dry season.

The school has more girls than boys. Out of 500 students, 300 of them are girls. As girls grow up and reach puberty, their need for toilet and water becomes more pronounced during the monthly menstruation cycle. That’s when girls need more water than boys. Realizing this need, the school management has also constructed a big common toilet for girls to use in addition to four separate toilets for girls, which already existed. They also employed a separate staff to clean the school and most importantly the toilets.

A school is not only about well-lit airy classrooms, excellent teachers, blackboards, chalks, students in clean uniform, books, notebooks, sports, playgrounds, library, computers etc but also about clean water.