What is The Beacon Project?
The Beacon Project was established in 2017 to bring clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene to every person living in Lahan, a small town in south-eastern Nepal. We aim to deliver universal, sustainable and safe access to these three essentials by 2030, in line with Sustainable Development Goal 6.
The project is a multi-stakeholder partnership through which we strive to be a model of best practice for delivering water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) in Nepal and beyond.
The project is supported and funded by Anglian Water, a UK water utility, and its supply chain partners. Funds are raised for the project through charitable events, and technical advice is provided through exchange visits and online meetings. In Nepal, our partners are the Nepal Water Supply Corporation (NWSC), the Ministry of Water Supply (MoWS) and Lahan Municipality. WaterAid staff in Nepal and the UK work as advisors and facilitators for The Beacon Project.
What has The Beacon Project achieved so far?
Zoom in and out and click on the icons in the map below to explore the different projects. Open the panel on the left-hand-side to see progress over time.
Key
Black = existing infrastructure/offices
Green = completed works
Orange = works in progress
Clean water
In the years since The Beacon Project started, we have made significant improvements to the water supply in Lahan.
- We drilled eight new boreholes to an improved specification and rehabilitated four old boreholes, enabling NWSC to supply water for ten to 12 hours a day (up from five hours in 2016).
- We installed three chlorine dosing stations to ensure that the water going into the piped network is clean and safe to drink.
- We connected more people to the piped network, meaning 6 out of 10 people in the NWSC supply area are connected (up from 4 out of 10 in 2016).
- We prioritise connections to disadvantaged Dalit communities. Over 700 Dalit people now have access to piped water in their houses.
- We provided safe, clean water in 15 local schools, giving over 4,600 students and teachers access to safe water during the school day.
Decent toilets
We work with a local NGO, Dalit JanKalyan Yuba Club (DJKYC), to provide access to decent toilets for thousands of people:
- We have built and renovated toilets in 17 schools, serving over 8,700 students and teachers.
- We have constructed toilet blocks in Wards 2, 5 and 11, providing sanitation for more than 500 people from Dalit households.
- We have also developed plans for Lahan’s first faecal sludge management plant in close collaboration with Lahan Municipality. We will support the construction and management of this facility in the coming years to provide a sustainable and environmentally sound sanitation service to the whole town.
Good hygiene
We also work with DJKYC to promote good hygiene behaviours and provide new facilities for handwashing in Lahan:
- We have installed child-friendly handwashing stations in 17 schools, serving over 8,700 students and teachers.
- We promote good hygiene through local radio and community champions.
- We maintain 50 handwashing stations in public places and healthcare facilities, used by approximately 30,000 people.
- We have hosted 86 community events to promote good hygiene behaviours, reaching over 1,600 people.
- We have visited 25 schools to teach about the importance of handwashing, menstrual hygiene and solid waste management.