Kathmandu’s Water Supply Operators: Rural-Urban Water Transfers as an Answer to the City’s Water Deficit- Mr. Dibesh Shrestha, Nepal Engineering College

1. Water Security in Peri-Urban South Asia: Adapting to Climate
Change and Urbanisation
Inception Workshop , August 16, 2010
Presentation on
PRIVATE WATER TANKER OPERATORS IN
KATHMANDU: ANALYSIS OF WATER TRANSFER
AND SERVICES
By:
Dibesh Shrestha, iWRM 2nd Year
Nepal Engineering College
Supervisor:
Prof. Ashutosh Shukla
Nepal Engineering College
Source: Field Visit (2009)

2. Setting the background: Water Supply in Kathmandu
KUKL piped
supply
Traditional Supply
Dhunge dhara
Source: Personal Collection,2009
Source: Personal Collection,2009
Individual Supply
Tube wells
Water Market:
Source: Personal Collection,2009
Water Tankers Source: Field Visit, 2009

3. Kathmandu and Emergence of private
water tankers
• Increasing urban population
• Water shortage
• Water demand= 280 MLD
(KUKL, 2009a)
• Moench and
Janakarajan (2006):
Emergence of water market due to gap left by
combined services of traditional sources and piped
water supply

4. Research objectives:
• To provide insight into various locations of water
sources, extraction mechanisms, volume of water
extraction and the transactions (volume of water and
financial) involved in the water tanker based water
market
• To analyse the role of private water tanker operators
in terms of the services provided by them in
addressing the water scarcity in Kathmandu

5. Methodology
• Field visits and observations
• Semi-structured interviews with
Well owners, private tankers owners,
tanker drivers
Officials of NWSC, KUKL
Functionaries of water tanker
entrepreneurs' association Field Interview, 2009
• Water sampling and testing of water
quality from different sources at five
locations of water extraction

6. Features of Tanker Based Water Market in Kathmandu:
Sources of water and their locations
• Locations: peri-
Manamaiju VDC
urban areas,
some in the Bus park
urban areas Balaju
Jorpati VDC
• Water: Ground
water (dug Gothatar VDC
wells, borings)
and Surface Matatirtha VDC
water
(stream and
Chobar
springs)
Source: Field study, 2009 (Locations plotted on map of Kathmandu)

7. Features of Tanker Based Water Market in
Kathmandu: Tanker Truck size
• Small tanker trucks (5000, 6000 and 7000
litres capacity) (6000 litres in general)
• Large tanker trucks (12000 litres capacity)

8. Features of Tanker Based Water Market in Kathmandu:
Water Extraction and Treatment Mechanisms
• Water extraction in Chobar (Surface Water)
Source: Field Visit, 2009

9. Features of Tanker Based Water Market in Kathmandu:
Water Extraction and Treatment Mechanisms
• Water extraction in Jorpati (Ground Water)
Source: Field Visit, 2009

10. Features of Tanker Based Water Market in Kathmandu:
Water Extraction and Treatment Mechanisms
• Water extraction in Matatirtha (Ground Water)
Source: Field Visit, 2009

11. Features of Tanker Based Water Market in Kathmandu:
Water Extraction and Treatment Mechanisms
• Water extraction in Baikhu (Surface Water) ( Water is
directly loaded)
Source: Field Visit, 2009

12. Features of Tanker Based Water Market in Kathmandu:
Volume of water extraction
• Dry season (peak) >> mid of January to mid of June
• Off-peak period >> rest of the year
• 600-700 water tankers running in Kathmandu on a
daily basis under more than 200 entrepreneurs
• 25.5 MLD of water supply by private tankers in dry
season (10,000 litres, 6 trips per day)
• 8 MLD of water supply by private tankers in off-peak
season (10,000 litres, 2 trips per day)

13. Features of Tanker Based Water Market in Kathmandu:
Volume of water extraction
Source: Field Visits and Interviews, 2009
*= Weightage given to large and small tankers on the basis on number of trips they make from the source
L= Large tanker trucks of 12,000 litres and S= Small tanker trucks of 6,000 litres,
AV=Average tanker capacity=10,000 litres

14. Features of Tanker Based Water Market in Kathmandu:
Volume of water extraction
Source: Field Visits and Interviews, 2009
* = Weightage given to large and small tankers on the basis on number of trips they make from the source
L= Large tanker trucks of 12,000 litres and S= Small tanker trucks of 6,000 litres,
AV=Average tanker capacity=10,000 litres

15. Features of Tanker Based Water Market in Kathmandu:
Volume of water extraction
Comparison:
Source: Moench (2001), Moench and Janakarajan (2006), Field Study (2009) and KUKL (2009a)

16. Features of Tanker Based Water Market in Kathmandu:
Cost
• 6,000 litres tanker costs NRs. 1200 (NRs 0.2 /litre)
• 12,000 litres tanker costs NRs. 2000 (NRs 0.17 /litre)
• NRs 0.183 per litre on average
• (1 USD= NRS.70)

17. Features of Tanker Based Water Market in Kathmandu:
Cost
• Financial transaction
Financial transaction of
Private Tanker based market
is 4.5 times higher than
KUKL’ s annual expenditure
for 2007/08

18. Features of Tanker Based Water Market in Kathmandu:
Water distribution
Water distribution locations
• Consumers: Private and value
residents, hotels,
restaurants,
schools,
construction
works,
pharmaceutical
industries, soft
drink
manufacturers
Source: Field Study, 2009 (Location and Value of
distribution plotted on map of Kathmandu)

19. Features of Tanker Based Water Market in Kathmandu:
Water Quality of Water tanker supplies
• Water quality tests on eight
water samples collected
from five different locations
viz. Jorpati, Matatirtha VDC,
Balaju, Baikhu and Chobar
• Samples derived before
loading the water to the
tanker trucks or just after Collection of water sample at
Matatirtha VDC, 2009
loading of water

20. Features of Tanker Based Water Market in Kathmandu:
Water Quality of Water tanker supplies
• Parameters tested: pH, Turbidity, Alkalinity, Hardness, Chloride,
Ammonia, Nitrate, Iron, Manganese, Arsenic, Total Coliform, E. coli
• Test results:
Few cases of presence of Ammonia, Iron and Manganese
beyond permissible limits
No Arsenic
All sources except deep boring at Balaju showed
contamination with coliforms. Similarly, E.Coli was detected at
all locations except in the deep boring at Balaju
E.coli relates to possible health consequences, hence,
potential health risk associated to tanker based supply

21. Trend of Water Tanker Operation in Kathmandu
Increase in the number of water tanker entrepreneurs over past four
years
Source: Field study, 2009 (based on records of Valley Drinking Water Tanker
Entrepreneurs Association’s records as of October 2009))

22. Conclusion
• Water supply in Kathmandu is varied and uncertain
• Market is offering solution in the form of water tanker
supplies to residents of Kathmandu
• Private water tankers at present supply significant amount of
water to meet the demand of Kathmandu
• High financial transaction transactions associated to tanker
water supply (4.5 times higher than KUKL’ s annual
expenditure for 2007/08)
• Presence of E.coli and quality concern

23. Linking to Water Security in Kathmandu
• Hydrological cycle in
Kathmandu: Growing
uncertain in recent years
• GW extraction in Peri-urban
and Urban areas: Exploiting
the finite resource
• Growing urban–population
and area: Increasing water Source: Shrestha, 2010
demand and decreasing GW
recharge zone
• Combination of all these: ??
Water Security ??

24. Thank you for your attention.