Groundwater has been one of the major sources of water for the people of Kathmandu valley since ages. Stone spouts and wells were commonly used means to get access to the groundwater in the valley. Before the introduction of piped household tap system in the Kathmandu Valley, the majority of people depended on either stone spouts or dug wells to fulfil their water need for household and drinking water purposes.
Groundwater has been one of the major sources of water for the people of Kathmandu valley since ages. Stone spouts and wells were commonly used means to get access to the groundwater in the valley. Before the introduction of piped household tap system in the Kathmandu Valley, the majority of people depended on either stone spouts or dug wells to fulfil their water need for household and drinking water purposes.
However, after the introduction of the piped system of water supply in Kathmandu valley during the Rana period, dependency on the stone spouts and dug wells decreased significantly and these spouts and wells points started to vanish due to the rapid development activities and haphazard urbanization. Such human activities not only cost us our reliable sources of water but also put them into endanger. Nowadays, most of the stone spouts have no running water on them and most of the dug wells are contaminated, which have forced inhabitants of the Kathmandu valley to use either purchased tanker water or limited water supply provided by the KUKL.
Therefore, to address increasing urban water demand and provide a reliable and sustainable system to the inhabitants of the Valley, Centre for Integrated Urban Development (CIUD) is currently implementing groundwater recharge using rainwater project supported by the WaterAid Nepal at the Rajdal Army Barrack of the Lalitpur Metropolitan City. This project aims to recharge 51,000 kiloliters of rainwater into the ground every year with the construction of the 48 recharge wells inside the Barrack. CIUD believes that with this volume of the groundwater recharge every year, many stone spouts and wells around the beneficial zone will gradually be revived and there will be water available in them with the increase in the groundwater table.
This project not only focuses on the construction of the recharge system but also in raising awareness about the significance of groundwater recharge and rainwater harvesting at the community and municipal level. In addition, CIUD is also keeping and maintaining an inventory of the groundwater table of wells and their water quality in the prospective beneficiary zone to measure and assess the impacts of the project.