Clear Drinking Water for Nepal

In April 2015, Nepal in South Asia was hit by one of the most severe earthquakes ever to shake the region. In the capital city of Kathmandu alone, several thousand people lost their lives and numerous temples, palaces and houses were destroyed.

Rebuilding the city is costing the Nepalese a great deal of energy and strength. But the health of the inhabitants was already a cause for serious concern: clean drinking water was scarce even before the disaster, and now there is also contamination from the enormous masses of mud.

The Josef Mühlbauer Foundation also wanted to help the local people. Eventually, they became aware of Kleine Hilfe e.V. in Deggendorf, an organisation that works to improve living conditions, primarily in India and Nepal, in line with the motto ‘Others before self’.

The association was searching for safe and established methods for sustainable water supply and finally came across the SuMeWa|SYSTEM (‘sun meets water’), which was developed by the company ‘AUTARCON’. The systems are used for the central treatment of drinking water using an electrolysis process, in which a very small amount of chlorine is generated from the minerals in the water, which removes contaminants and germs from the water. These systems offer several major advantages, as no chemicals are used for treatment. Automatic adaptation to local conditions means that the system can be used almost anywhere in the world. Despite its small size, one system can supply up to 2,000 people.

The system is therefore perfectly suited for use in Kathmandu, Nepal. On 22 November, Alexander Goldmaier, Managing Director of AUTARCON, flew to Nepal and installed the system at the Mahayan Centre Gompa, where the nuns and monks were able to familiarise themselves with its operation and maintenance after two days.

To support the association kleine Hilfe e.V. in its collaboration with the company AUTARCON and its project in Nepal, the Josef Mühlbauer Foundation donated EUR 11,000.00.