UN helps to bring fresh water to rural Nepal

​The University of Northampton isn’t just committed to transforming the lives of its students, but is one of several organisations who has helped transform the lives of almost 5,000 people in rural Nepal through AquaFund’s WaterAid project.

WaterAid works to bring safe water and sanitation to thousands of people in some of the most rural and remote parts of Nepal.

The University has been working with leading utility management specialist, ADSM, for several years to reduce and manage the water consumption and waste across the whole institution.  A proportion of the savings are then transferred as a contribution to the WaterAid project.

Although there have been some challenges throughout the project, it has still achieved many milestones including:

• Six new gravity flow water systems supplying 67 tap stands.
• 24 water point caretakers trained on maintaining the water systems and bringing communities together to assist with the construction work.
• 1,040 households constructed latrines this year reaching 4,693 people with improved sanitation.
• 120 volunteers (58 per cent) female were trained and helped educate the communities on the need to end open defecation and construct latrines at home.

Terry Cox, Head of Infrastructure Services at the University of Northampton, commented: We are very pleased to be associated with the achievements of WaterAids project in Nepal. Our involvement with ADSM came about as part of a drive to improve our own performance in water management and reduce wastage across the University. As a result of the savings we made through this initiative, we have been able to contribute to improving the lives of people on the other side of the world, which is fantastic!”

Find out more about the WaterAid projects​.