Safe drinking water for 6,000 schoolchildren

The Solaqua Foundation provides targeted support for public schools, so that children in even the poorest families have access to safe drinking water and hygienic surroundings. Water kiosks help ensure that facilities are maintained over the long term.

Solaqua

Solaqua launched a new project with five public schools in April 2016, to provide around 6,000 children from the most underprivileged section of society access to safe drinking water (all other families send their children to private schools). The schools selected for the project are situated in urban areas in the flatlands of southern Nepal.

 

Solaqua's local partner installed powerful ultrafiltration systems in the schools. These systems purify sufficient groundwater to supply drinking fountains and hand-washing facilities for all schoolchildren. In addition, water can be sold to the surrounding businesses and middle-income families. These water kiosks will fund maintenance of the facilities and systems on a sustainable basis. A small portion of the revenues also goes towards the schools' budgets, so as to enable the schools to fund further measures for improving health.

 

Solaqua supports the initial investments required for the filter systems as well as the training of the kiosk operators and teachers, who will sensitise the children to the issues around drinking water, hygiene and health. Solaqua's support is not only financial in nature – networking and sharing personal experiences is also helpful for local partners.