CHAPTER 1- INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND
Water treatment is the process of enhancing the quality of water so that it meets the water
quality criteria for its fitness for the intended use and water treatment plants are those
facilities that treat ground or surface water and produce potable water for public consumption
or provide primary treatment and produce industrial water .
There have been many consequences seen/recorded in the world due to unsafe drinking water
for instances: 1.6 million people die every year from diarrhoeal diseases (including cholera),
160 million people are infected with Schistosomiasis causing tens of thousands of deaths
yearly, there are around 1.5 million cases of clinical hepatitis A every year and intestinal
helminthes (Ascariasis, Trichuriasis and hookworm infection) are plaguing the developing
world due to inadequate drinking water (WHO 2013).
Trend of water treatment practice is seen from very earlier. Giving a look on the history of
water treatment, it is found that in ancient Greek and Sanskrit (India) writings dating back to
2000 BC, water treatment methods were recommended. People back then knew that heating
water might purify it, and they were also educated in sand and gravel filtration, boiling, and
straining. Turbidity was the main driving force between the earliest water treatments. Not
much was known about microorganisms, or chemical contaminants. With changing time, new
techniques continued to develop and nowadays water disinfection with chlorine is in practice
in our communities (Enzler, 2012).
Water supply and wastewater management in Kathmandu valley has become a challenging
concern owing to the unavailability of sufficient water in the Valley and poor distribution
network to transport the available water. With the ever growing population to be served,
suffering of people from acute shortage of drinking Water is also increasing in the Valley. A
1

substantial portion of the mismanagement of distribution leading to peoples drudgery can be

attributed to an old and dilapidated pipe network and other infrastructure facilities in place to
produce, transport, treat and distribute water.
It was too hard for people in the valley to get proper access to drinking water and
government too couldnt fulfill peoples demand of water. To overcome and minimize the
water demand in Kathmandu valley a public company was registered in 2064 under Nepal
Government. The company was named KUKL which moved forward with the aim to provide
quality drinking water to public at affordable prices
Kathmandu Upatyaka Khanepani Limited (KUKL) is a public company registered under
the Nepal Governments Company Act 2063 and operates under the Public Private
Partnership (PPP) modality. According to KUKL's Articles of Association, the company has
the objective to undertake and manage the water supply and sanitation system of the
Kathmandu Valley previously operated by NWSC and to provide a quantitative, qualitative
and reliable service to its customers at an affordable price.
KUKL is responsible for the operation and management of water and wastewater services in
the Valley. It operates the water supply and wastewater services under a License and Lease
Agreement with the Kathmandu Valley Water Supply Management Board (KVWSMB) for
30 years. KUKL is responsible for the maintenance of all assets received on lease from
KVWSMB. The company will also take over the responsibility for infrastructure built by the
Melamchi Water Supply Project.
The shareholders of the company, with relative initial shareholdings are: the Government of
Nepal (30%), Municipalities in the Valley (50%), Private Sector Organizations (15%)
[ FNCCI- 3%, Lalitpur Chamber of Commerce - 1.5%, Nepal Chamber of Commerce- 9%,
Bhaktapur Chamber of Commerce -1.5%], and an employee trust to be paid by the
government (5%).

The KUKL is governed by a Board of Directors with seven Members. Four directors are
nominated by shareholders (one each from GoN, Kathmandu Metropolitan, Lalitpur SubMetropolitan and private sector organizations) and three are independently appointed. The
chairman is selected from among the Board of Directors.

1.2 OBJECTIVES

To know about the water treatment system of KUKL and current status of water
supply.

To understand the working mechanism of water treatment plant.

To know the water distribution procedure by the water treatment plant in mass.

To know the public response about the KUKL.

CHAPTER 2 METHODS
This field visit to water treatment plant KUKL, Mahankal was done with an intention to
make students clear about the water treatment process and current status of water supply. The
visit was organized for B.Ph. 1st year students by Manmohan Memorial Memorial Institute of
Health Sciences (MMIHS).
The Visit date was scheduled on 4th Chaitra. The journey of our visit started from college
premises at around 10 am under the guidance of our respected teacher Mr Ravindra Pandey.
We were provided with a college bus by administration and we reached the spot after 1 hour
of the journey. With our respected teacher and KUKL staff Mr Basanta Kumar Pal we were
able to gain all the information we required for water treatment process.
The field visit was done directly observing the treatment plant and asking questions to the
management staff and knowing whether the theoretical part do implies in practical.

2.1 OBSERVATIONAL FIELD VISIT

2.1.1 DESIGN AND WORKING MECHANISM

KUKL is a private company playing a great role in providing water to the people of
Kathmandu valleyThe KUKL supply the water to the valley from the Sundarijal
which is purified at Mahankal in Boudha

The water is supplied through the pipeline (brought in action in 1895A.D.)

Treatment process usually involves

Pumping and containment

Screening & sedimentation.
Aeration
Coagulation & flocculation
4

 Secondary Sedimentation
Filtration
Disinfection (Chlorination)
Pumping and containment
The majority of water is pumped from its source or directed into pipes or holding
tanks. To avoid adding contaminants to the water, physical infrastructure is made
from appropriate materials. Colour and turbidity are reduced to a considerable extent
and bacteria also disappear to as much as 90 to 95 % during storage (Belbase, 2011).
Screening & sedimentation
Screening removes large debris such as sticks, leaves, trash and other large particles
which may interfere with subsequent purification steps. The floating matter that
accumulates on the screens is removed periodically to allow free flow of incoming
water. Most deep groundwater does not need screening before other purification
steps. Primary or plain sedimentation removes suspended impurities like sand, slit,
and clay. The process is carried out in a sedimentation tank in which suspended
particles settle down by the action of gravity. A sedimentation tank operates on a
continuous flow system; water flows continuously in a horizontal direction, and in the
process suspended impurities settle down as sludge.
Tanks are designed to retain water for several hours; the longer the detention period,
the greater the settlement. The minimum retention time is normally 4 hours.

It

relieves water treatment plant from load of suspended impurities however without
washing any chemicals. Factors influencing the process of sedimentation are Pull of
gravity, Velocity of flow, Size of particle, Temperature of water

Aeration
Water is mixed with air to increase dissolved oxygen. Higher oxygen level in water
helps formation of coagulation mass, further it also enhances taste.
Coagulation

The materials and particles present in drinking water (clay, organic material, metals,
and microorganisms) are often quite small and so will not settle out, and flow along
with. These are removed through coagulation. . Coagulation starts when positively
charged coagulant particles start attracting negatively charged colloidal (suspended)
particle. A gelatinous precipitate runs throughout the body of water in the form of a
spongy mass called floc, bacteria get entangled in the meshes of the floc. As the floc
assumes weight, it gradually descends to the bottom as sludge and thereby causes the
settlement of all colloidal impurities in water including bacteria. Aluminium
hydroxide is the commonly used coagulant.
Flocculation
Flocculation is a process of gentle stirring of water for thorough mixing of the
coagulant. This process helps uniform distribution of the coagulant and colloidal
particles in the water which leads to floc formation. The stirring has to be gentle; it
includes baffled mixing, mechanical paddling and air agitation. In baffled mixing,
water is made to pass through a channel interrupted by incomplete partitions called
baffles. In mechanical paddling, vertically rotating paddles are employed for stirring.
While in air agitation, compressed air is diffused through water for thorough mixing

 Secondary sedimentation
Water exiting the flocculation basin may enter the sedimentation basin, also called a
clarifier or settling basin. It is a large tank with slow flow, allowing floc to settle to
the bottom. The sedimentation basin is best located close to the flocculation basin so
the transit between does not permit floc break up. The amount of floc that settles out
of the water is dependent on the time the water spends in the basin and the depth of
the basin. The minimum clarifier retention time is normally 4 hours. A deep basin will
allow more floc to settle out than a shallow basin. The tank may be equipped with
mechanical cleaning devices that continually clean the bottom of the tank or the tank
can be taken out of service when the bottom needs to be cleaned.
Filtration
After separating most floc, the water is filtered as the final step to remove remaining
suspended particles and unsettled floc. Rapid sand filter is used for filtration. It is
made up of several enclosure tanks arranged in row made with cement concrete
measuring about 6mx8m in size. The filter medium is sand bed of depth about 60-90
cm. The sand grain are relatively fine and of uniform size throughout the bed. The
sand bed arrests the suspended particles mechanically. There is also the support
medium of 30-45 cm thick foundation of gravel that permits free flow of filtered
water towards under drainage system. After continued use, there is formation of a
very thin vital layer that absorbs bacteria and purifies water
Chlorination
Chlorine is used for the disinfection of filtered water because it is cheap, efficient,
reliable, & harmless in acceptable level. It is a powerful germicide and algaecide. It

kills pathogenic bacteria cells directly (but

not the spores, certain viruses, and protozoa
cyst

and

eliminates

helminthes

ova).

Chlorine

tastes

odor,

improves

and

coagulation, oxidizes iron and manganese and removes color. It is simple to apply and
easy to monitor. Dose of Chlorine is o.1 - 0.5 mg/lit but in extreme condition
(epidemic outbreak) the dose is increased up to 1 mg/lit.
After the treatment, physical, chemical and pathological testing of water is done in
laboratory.
Storage and distribution
There are two reservoirs tanks for the storage of treated water of capacity 40 lakh slit
of each. A storage reservoir is built to collect water from filters and store it until it is
pumped into the service reservoir or the distribution system. The stored water is then
distributed to the different places of Katmandu valley up to Basantapur, Kalimati,
Maharajgunj etc area (Belbase, 2011)

2.2 SITE DESCRIPTION

Our observational visit site was Water Treatment Plant, KUKL located in Mahankal. Water
Treatment Plant, Mahankalchaur, Kathmandu is one of the collector of raw water and
8

processor and distributor branch office of Kathmandu Upatyaka Khanepani Limited (KUKL).
Among all water treatment plants existing in Kathmandu valley, Water Treatment Plant,
Mahankalchaur is most satisfactorily working Water Treatment Plant (Kansakar, 2005).
Major source of water for this treatment plant is the Sundarijal Water Reservoir Twenty
seven treatment plants exist out of which the large ones, Baude, Mahankal Chaur,Bansbari
and Tahakhel are in satisfactory or good functional condition. The 22 smaller ones are in
deficient functional condition and/or out of service. Of these, BalKumari, Jwagal and
Sinamangal are now under rehabilitation. Only 13 treatment plants have disinfection plants
(6 dosing pumps and 7 dripping).
35 crore litre is the daily requirement in Kathmandu valley but at present it is only able to
supply 13 crore litres per day. During dry season KUKL is only able to provide 3 crore litre
per day.
Other requirement is compromised and is fulfilled by public itself.

Mahank
al

Ekantakun
a

10

CHAPTER 3 OBSERVATION FINDINGS

KUKL was established in 2064 BS with an aim to supply quality drinking water to the
public.13 crore litre per day is the production. Water Treatment Plant runs 24 hours a day
where working shift is divided into 8 hours per person. At present water is drained from
ground and surface sources. Rain harvesting is in process in Dhobighat . Purification process
is applied step by step (showed in design and working mechanism)
Ground water is drained from 120-150 meter depth and is kept in a biofilter. Gaseous
substances are flown away using biofilter. There is no bacterium in ground water. NaOH is
used for increasing the pH value of water. 22 wells have been established to drain water from
underground sources.
Surface water is drained from Sundarijal. Chemicals namely alum. PAC (Poly Aluminium
Chloride), slaked lime are used in the purification process.Chemicals are dropped according
to ratio of water. Sludgea are developed in flocculation chamber which is cleaned in every 34 months. Backwash is done if filtration process is obstructed.
Laboratory check of water is done after the the complete purification process. It is usually
done physically, chemically and bacteriologically. In physical process appearance, odour and
turbidity is checked. In chemical checking iron, ammonia, calcium, a manganese and arsenic
level are checked and in bacteriology E.Coli presence are checked. After the laboratory check
only water is supplied to the public.

11

CHAPTER 4 -CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

The purpose of our visit was to broadly study and knows about how the pipeline supplied
water to major parts of the valley is treated and distributed. Accordingly we studied the water
treatment process in Mahankal. There were many weak points which can be improved for the
better effectiveness of the treatment plant and better and adequate water supply in the valley.
Following may be the recommendations:
(1) Establishment of proper Critical Control Point criteria.
(2) The waste generated by the plant needs to be properly managed because it is directly
dumped in Manohara river.
(3) Quality should be checked on regular basis and treatment plant should not use large
amount of ground water.
(4) Government should encourage the private company to fulfill the demand.
Our visit to Mahankalchaur Water Treatment Plant was much effective to sharpen our
theoretical knowledge about water treatment and distribution pattern in Kathmandu valley

12

CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTi
SUMMARYii
CHAPTER 1- INTRODUCTION....................................................................................................
1.1

BACKGROUND..............................................................................................................

1.2

OBJECTIVES...................................................................................................................

CHAPTER 2 METHODS..............................................................................................................
2.1 OBSERVATIONAL FIELD VISIT........................................................................................
2.2 SITE DESCRIPTION............................................................................................................
CHAPTER 3 OBSERVATION FINDINGS.................................................................................
CHAPTER 4 -CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS...................................................
REFERENCES
PHOTOPLATE

13