Are we aware of the quality of our drinking water? Have we ever tested our drinking water? These questions may sound simple and furthermore, from many people across the nation, we still receive the simple answer “No”. The frequently heard reasons for not testing the drinking water are: ‘Because we do not know about water testing’, ‘Because the water is very clean and do not require testing water’, ‘Because we have been drinking water as such from generations’ or ‘Because there are no water testing facilities available in our district and we cannot afford to go to Kathmandu just for this water testing’.
Water that we are consuming may look clean but it may be contaminated with various invisible pathogens. One of the reasons for consuming this unsafe water is the lack of knowledge and awareness amongst the people about drinking water quality. Another crucial reason is the lack of service and service providers at the local level to test the drinking water. To fulfill this gap and provide the laboratory services at the district level, ENPHO, in collaboration with Centre for Affordable Water and Sanitation Technology (CAWST) and Global Affairs Canada (GAC), supported the new initiative- Mini Lab Initiative in Nepal.
Under this initiative, ENPHO facilitates, develops the approach and supports the local organization in the district for the establishment of the Mini Lab. The Mini Lab would then be established by the local organization which would also oversee the overall technical operation and maintenance of the lab. The lab is equipped with the basic equipment required to test 12 major parameters of water quality. With this Mini Lab, the general public and institutions will have the advantage of testing water quality in their own district.
Nepal has been declared as Open Defecation Free nation and now heading towards achieving ‘Total Sanitation’ which includes safe water as one of the major components. Water quality testing is crucial to ensure whether the water is safe to drink or not. However, water test kits, facilities, and laboratory services for water testing are not easily available in every district of Nepal. One of the simplest and prominently used water test kit is the ENPHO Water Test Kit. It is affordable, portable and easy-to-use at field level. Other test kits are also available in the market but most of them are expensive. Furthermore, the available laboratory services to provide water quality testing services are also confined in Kathmandu Valley.
In this context, the Mini Lab Initiative aims to provide the laboratory services for water testing in the district itself and subsequently contribute to total sanitation movement in Nepal by raising public awareness on safe water and providing services to know if the water is safe or not.
The first Mini Lab has been established by Shanti Nepal, a local organization, at its Project Management Office at Ganesh Marga, Ward No. 3, Nilkantha Municipality in Dhading and was inaugurated on 18 October 2019. Out of 27 major parameters for water quality standard set by the Nepal Government, the Mini Lab provides services for testing the major 12 parameters which include: Turbidity, PH, Temperature, Iron, Chloride, Nitrate, Hardness, Ammonia, Phosphate, Free Residual Chlorine, E.Coli, and Coliform. ENPHO will be providing the support for technical capacity enhancement through the project ‘Reconstruction and Resilience of WASH Services through Capacity Building in Nepal’. Furthermore, very soon, the Mini Lab will be established in two more districts- Sindhupalchowk and Nuwakot. The lab thus established will be monitored by ENPHO Lab twice a year along with the cross verification of the samples.
The expected clients for the Mini Lab are the projects implemented by the local organizations, water supply schemes in district, institutions which include hotels, schools, banks and hospitals, and households. This may be the first Mini Lab established outside Kathmandu Valley and with the beginning of this new initiative, ENPHO is hopeful in increasing public awareness on safe water and the importance of testing water quality and contributing to total sanitation movement in Nepal.
