Proper correct message

Padmaja Shreshtha - Thursday 18 May 2006

Dear all
Greeting from Padmaja Shreshtha

I am working in Environment and Public Health Organization (ENPHO), located at New Baneshwor, Kathmandu, Nepal. One of the main objective of our organization is to develop and promote low cost water testing technique at field level and household drinking water technology, so that all the members of the community can get safe drinking water at low cost.

In this conference I would like to put my view based on the given three questions. The quastions are as follows:

1. Does promoting household water treatment and safe storage allow the government to shift its responsibility to individuals to finance their own safe water?

2. How can implementers promote water treatment and safe storage without reflecting negatively on existing water sources, which may or may not be safe to drink?

3. Can organizations working to improve access to water also promote HWTS without sending a confusing and conflicting message to their communities?

Based on the above three questions my views are as follows:

Shifting of the responsibility from government to individuals is not the important issue. The most important point is that whether the drinking water supplied by government or other organization to every member of the community should be safe. It would be quite safe if individules make their drinking water safe by themselves. But the government or the other organization who take responsible for the supply of drinking water should maintain minimum quality of standard so that members of the community can treat their drinking water by simple household technology and obtain safe drinking water.

Household water treatment and storage of drinking water is not a new chapter for most of the community member. They treat their drinking water and store it separately. Only the matter is that whether the treatment and storage is done correctly/properly or not. For this the community members require proper and correct message regarding treatment technology and storage process.

Through different types of awareness programs HWTS can promote and give proper message to the community members. The government should play a vital role in it.