A REPORT OF FIELD VISIT ON

STUDY OF WATER PURIFICATION SYSTEM AT

AMARAPURI

SUBMITTED BY:
GROUP: C; ROLL NO. (21-30)
NIKITA BARAL
NIRMALA TAMANG
PRADIP DHUNGANA
PRATIKSHYA NEUPANE
PREETI POUDEL
PUJA KANDEL
RAKSHYA BASNET
RAMPRIT YADAV
RANJANA ADHIKARI
RASMI SUBEDI

SUBMITTED FOR PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR

ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH AND ECOSYSTEM
FOR OBTAINING DEGREE OF BACHELORS OF PUBLIC HEALTH

SUBMITTED TO:
DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC HEALTH
SHREE MEDICAL AND TECHNICAL COLLEGE

APRIL 2021

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 LETTER OF RECOMMENDATION

This is to certify that Group-C of BPH Second Semester from Shree Medical and
Technical College has completed this field visit report entitled “Study of Water
Purification System at Amarapuri” as a partial fulfillment of the requirements of
‘Environment Health and Ecosystem’ under my supervision and guidance. To my
knowledge, this work has not been submitted for any other degree, anywhere else.

I therefore, recommend the report for acceptance and approval.

..................................

Field Mentor
NARAYAN NIRAULA
Part time Faculty
Shree Medical and Technical College,
Bharatpur, Chitwan, Nepal

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 LETTER OF APPROVAL

On the recommendation of Subject teacher and field mentor “Mr. Narayan Niraula”
this field report submitted by Group-C of BPH Second Semester, SMTC entitled
“Study of Water Purification System at Amarapuri” has been approved for the
examination and submitted to the Shree Medical and Technical College, Purbhanchal
University in partial fulfillment of the requirements of BPH.

…………………..

Jiwan Paudyal
Head of the Department
Shree Medical & Technical College

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
We would like to place on record our deep sense of gratitude to Mr. Jeevan PoudeI
(BPH Coordinator, SMTC, Chitwan) who accepted our request and provide sufficient
facility for our visit to community based organization on 2077-12-27 which was
located on Nawalparasi district around 18 km from Shree medical and technical
College, Bharatpur, Chitwan.
Our special thanks goes to our subject teacher Mr. Narayan Niraula for the guidance
and constant co-operation. We are thankful to Mr. Gopi Kandel who presented about
Amarapuri water purification and all the administrative staff of Amarapuri water
purification, under whose guidance and supervision, we were able to know different
concept, facilities, and important works of Amarapuri water purification.
We would like to thank to all of our friends for their support and co-operation during
this visit and in the process of preparing this report. Last but not least we would like
to extend our sincere thanks to entire team of SMTC for providing us venue and
motivational support in making this endeavor.

Group C; Roll no (21-30)

BPH 2nd Semester,
Shree medical and Technical College

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

COVER PAGE
LETTER OF RECOMMENDATION...........................................................................ii

LETTER OF APPROVAL...........................................................................................iii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT............................................................................................iv

TABLE OF CONTENTS...............................................................................................v

ABSTRACT..................................................................................................................vi

CHAPTER-1: INTRODUCTION..................................................................................1

1.1. Background......................................................................................................1

1.2. Objectives........................................................................................................1

CHAPTER-2: MATERIALS AND METHODS...........................................................3

2.1. Study area........................................................................................................3

2.2. Field methods..................................................................................................3

CHAPTER-3 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION..............................................................4

3.1. Results.............................................................................................................4

3.1.1. Observations:................................................................................................4

3.1.2. Success story, needs and challenges:.....................................................10

3.2. Discussion:....................................................................................................10

CHAPTER- 4: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS................................11

4.1. Conclusion:....................................................................................................11

4.2. Recommendations:........................................................................................11

REFERENCES.............................................................................................................12

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 ABSTRACT
This report is all about the water purification process of Amarapuri. The main
objective of this study was to perceive how the water is purified in Amarapuri Water
Purification System and how the quality of water is tested in laboratory by using
reagents and equipment. In this report, we have discussed the sources of water,
various factors of water pollution, steps used to purify water and laboratory tests of
water. In conclusion, community have to perform the various test of water in every
three months and have to build large storage to increase the water supply and it will
helps to sort the water scarcity problem.

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 CHAPTER-1: INTRODUCTION

1.1. Background
Two third surface of earth surface is covered by water and human body consists
nearly 75 percent of water. It is explicitly clear that water is one of the main element
responsible for life on earth. Water circulates through the land just as it does through
the human body, transporting, dissolving, and replenishing nutrients and organic
matter, while carrying away waste material. Further, in the body, it regulates the
activities of fluids, tissues, cells, lymph, blood and glandular secretions. Safe drinking
water is essential to humans and other life forms even though it provides no calories
or organic nutrients. Access to safe drinking water has improved over the last decades
in almost every part of the world, but approximately one billion people still lack
access to safe water and over 2.5 billion lack access to adequate sanitation Amarapuri
Water Purification (AWP) is located in Newalparasi district, Amarapuri. The source
of water for the purification is Jahare Khola. The water Purification plan was
established in 2036 by Nepal government and then established by public in 2057 and
more development and construction were done in 2059. Regular purified water
distribution was completed in 2061. Total population of Amarapuri is 8500 with 1761
household. Amarapuri water purification is distributing water in 1520 taps. It is
running with 2 Tank with 200 sq. meters. In a day, it distributes 10 lakh liters and
have plan to distribute 20 lakh liters in a day. River water can easily be contaminated
by physical, chemical and biological materials. So it should be purified before
drinking. It should be purified through different steps. The source of water is around 4
km away from the residential area. And the laboratory to test the quality of water is
near to the residential areas.

1.2. Objectives
General Objective: The general objective of this field visit was to study about the
Water Purification plant situated at Amarapuri and learn about its current situation.

Specific Objectives:
The specific objectives of the study were;

- To observe and understand the working mechanism of the various components

of the Amarapuri water purification system

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- To observe the water quality testing in the laboratory of AWP using proper
reagents
- To collect information from key informants regarding the success, needs and
challenges of the AWP

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 CHAPTER-2: MATERIALS AND METHODS
2.1. Study area
The selected site for the field visit was Amarapuri Water Purification System located
at Nawalparasi. The main source of water for the Amarapuri water purification is
Jahare Khola and other sources are rainwater, ground water and surface water. The
water gets contaminated if it is mixed with undesirable substances. These undesirable
substances could be in any form like solid, liquid and vapor and could pollute water in
direct or indirect form.

2.2. Field methods

Field survey: primary data was collected through the field survey. The field survey
was
Made from walk through survey, consultation with the staffs. The given tools were
used for the collection of primary data:
i) Topographical map: It was used to show environmental features on map during the
walk through survey
ii) Photographs: Photographs were taken to show different environmental features.
Observation: We observed the condition of water source, sedimentation tanks,
roughing filter and the slow sand filter bed.
Discussion with the key informants: A hearing sorts of program was conducted at
the office of water supply system to understand the needs, success and challenges
prominent to the water purification system.

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 CHAPTER-3 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
3.1. Results
3.1.1. Observations:
The process by which undesired chemical compounds, organic and inorganic
materials, and biological contaminants are removed from water is called water
purification. Purifying water helps to reduce the concentration of particulate matter
including suspended particles, parasites, bacteria, algae, viruses, fungi, as well as
reducing the amount of a range of dissolved and particulate material derived from the
surfaces that come from runoff due to rain. The causes of water pollution can be:
i) Physical materials: It causes changes in colour, order, PI-I, temperature.
ii) Chemical materials: It is caused by mixing of materials like Iron, Floride, chloride,
Lead, Calcium, chlorine etc.
iii) Biological materials: It is caused by mixing of living agents like E.coli, bacteria,
virus, fungi, algae, parasites etc.

The main objective of the Amarapuri Water Purification was to produce water for
drinking purpose. There, the water is disinfected for human consumption and
community are using this project on other purposes too. Process like filtration,
sedimentation, and distillation; biological processes such as slow sand filters;
chemical processes such as chlorination are being applied for the water purification.
Amarapuri water purification has the following components in purification of the
water;

Intake:

In water purification systems, water is collected from different sources such as surface
water and ground water. The AWP had its intake at around 2.5 Km (aerial distance)
northwards from the purification set up. The intake was built on Jharahi Stream for
continuous supplement of water for the purification.

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 Figure 1: Intake of AWP
Grit chamber:

This is the 1st step of water purification. In this step undesired materials like leaves,
soil, stone etc. are removed from flush pipe.

Trash rack:

A trash rack is a wooden or metal structure, frequently supported by masonry that

prevents water-borne debris (such as logs, boats, animals, masses of cut waterweed,
etc.) from entering the intake of a water mill, pumping station or water conveyance.
This protects water wheels, penstocks, and sluice gates from destruction during
floods. They are sometimes fitted to storm drain inflows and outflows to prevent
debris from entering a natural watercourse.
Trash racks composed of vertical wooden strakes separated by narrow gaps are very
common and perform extremely poorly. Metal gratings are sturdier and can have
narrower strakes, and angling the trash rack properly can allow some self-cleaning
from the action of the water. Modern trash racks as used by hydroelectric plants can
incorporate such advanced features as wedge-wire screens, and cleaning robots.
In waterways with large amounts of floating debris, various permanently installed
"trash rakes" may be required to reduce the labor required for regular cleaning.
Trash racks are designed for water velocity of around 2 feet/second (0.6
metres/second) to prevent excessive energy loss due to the head loss across the trash
rack. Close spacing keeps out more small floating debris or fish, but may plug up
easily with frazil ice in cold climate.

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The Amarapuri Water Purification System has an arrangement of metal trash rakes to
serve the purpose of preventing debris from entering further towards the purification
system.
Pre sedimentation:

Pre-sedimentation act as additional barriers to passage of Cryptosporidium and other

contaminants, and provide general benefits to subsequent treatment processes by
equalizing the raw water source, including dampening of both hydraulic and water
quality spikes. Pre-sedimentation refers to tanks and retention basins with storage
times on the order of hours or days. Amarapuri Water Purification System has the
settling basins of 2.5 meters and help to sediment the soil, silt and sand. Water pass in
every 2 hours and about 30% purification is completed in this step.

Figure 2: Sedimentation basin

Buffer wall:

This wall is constructed adjacent to the sedimentation basin to serve the purpose of
separating clear water after it casts off its sediments at the bottom of the basin.

Roughing Filter:

Water coming from the sedimentation tank is administered the horizontal filter bed of
4 differently sized gravel beds. It removes remaining sediments present in the water
that come down with the flow. As the water is passed through the horizontally placed
filter beds, it is collected by the perforated pipes placed horizontally at the bottom of
the bed and water passes to the next level for purification.
The water that comes out from the outlet chamber of roughing filter is 90% pure.

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 Figure 4: Roughing filter
Slow Sand Filter:

Only by getting 90% pure form of water is not enough to have, it needs to be further
purified by different processes. Sand filtration is one of the common and the easiest
way of purifying water by biological process. The filtration bed contains 250 to 1000
mm of small pieces of gravel (GITTI) at the bottom up to the height of 60cm or 1
meter followed by coarse sand and fine grained sand placed above.
After this filtration process, water becomes ready to drink and to all the people of that
locality.

Figure 5: Slow Sand Filter

Laboratory Test:
The obtained filtered water sample must pass the lab test, which consists of several
chemical experiments. Different scientific equipment and processes are utilized for
lab test to determine the purity of water.

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 Figure 6: Equipment and reagents used in laboratory to test quality of water
The Potatest is a lightweight microbiological test kit offering low-cost, rapid response
testing of basic water quality parameters. It is designed to complement the increased
emphasis now being placed upon water safety plans (and their role in assessing and
managing risk throughout each step of the drinking water supply process). It is widely
used by organizations involved in large-scale emergencies or simple water quality
testing projects.

Removable water safety kit contains instruments and visual test equipment to
determine whether a full microbiological verification is required
Rapid field microbiological analysis involves using membrane filtration protocols for
screening of faecal and/or total coliforms. Supplied with consumables and pares
sufficient for processing/analyzing 200 samples.

For the lab test of water first the PH of the water is measured. The PH of the water
should fall in between 6.5- 7.5. At first, water is put in the test-tube and is mixed with
the chemical to measure the PH of water. The PH helps to know the acidity, basicity
and neutrality of the water.

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 Figure 7: Testing pH of given sample water
Turbidity test is another one performed for assuring the quality of water. Turbidity
tube was being used in Amarapuri Water Purification System to determine turbidity.
The standard value for turbidity should be less than 5 NTU.

Figure 8: Turbidity test

Water is passed through other different chemical tests as well like chlorine test, iron
test, and etc.

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3.1.2. Success story, needs and challenges:
Since the working of the water supply system after being renamed into Amarapuri
Water Purification System, it has served its purpose of providing safe water to its
consumers. The works of the water purification system has been appreciated and
rewarded by many organizations and authorities. The continuous monitoring of the
quality of water from source, after purification, during the distribution and users end
has always shown complying results to the National Drinking Water Quality
Standards. In addition, the water supply system is conducting awareness programs
regarding water safety and maintenance of hygiene to its consumers from time to
time.

Despite the success in providing safe water, the supply system is delivering water
only for 3 hours in the morning and 3 hours in the evening. Furthermore, the services
can’t be extended to other wards given the present facilities. Thus, there have been
needs of financial and technical resources to increase capacity of the system.

The water supply system is facing some other challenges as well. Discontinuous
supply of water year round is a challenge since the supply is less in the winter and is
highly turbid and unmanageable in the rainy seasons. Highly turbid water can’t be
processed easily by the purification system. Furthermore, there is lack of sufficient
storage of water after the purification. There have been no uniformity in the tap
installment cost to all the public which is another troublesome issue for the present
context.

3.2. Discussion:
Aspects of water service management in general is posing the most difficulty at the
moment:

- Low discharge during winter season.

- Stones nearby water source which might threat to water source
- Aspects of treatment process posing most difficulty for daily operation
- Lack of automation
- Lack of laboratory for water quality analysis.

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 CHAPTER- 4: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
4.1. Conclusion:
Our visit to Amarapuri water purification system was one of the fruitful parts of
study. We learnt different stages of purification of water and how the water will be
suitable for drinking purposes. Most of the diseases are transmitted through water and
drinking pure water can reduce infection by more than 50%. The water project has
reduced the scarcity of water. Its step is fruitful to each of the member of the area.
Although, this water purification has done a great job in supplying pure drinking
water to the resident but still few refinements have to be done. The community and
health organization have to give proper look on this water purification. We
recommend the community to do refine test of water in every three months. The
method must be broadened to have easy way for the purification process. The
community has to build large storage to increase the capacity of water, which will
help to solve the water scarcity problem.

4.2. Recommendations:
Based on our field visit, following recommendations are made;

- A proper establishment of mechanism to provide continuous supply of water

during the rainy season seems essential
- Facilities in the laboratory shall be increased to incorporate testing of more
water quality parameters

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REFERENCES

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