Nepal has made considerable progress in increasing access to water and sanitation over recent decades and was the first country in South Asia to be declared Open Defecation Free (ODF) in 2019.

However, challenges remain along the sanitation service chain which urgently need to be addressed, such as equality in terms of access to safely managed sanitation facilities and services. This requires the Government of Nepal to shift focus beyond simply ODF, to ensure that water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) policy in Nepal is refocussed on post-ODF challenges.

Prof Sabitri K. Tripathi, a research consultant on the Towards Brown Gold project , is leading the construction of a low-cost Gulper at the Nepal Engineering College. Prof Tripathi is a Professor of Chemistry at the college, and is joined by machinal engineers Dr Arun Satyal, Prakash Bashyal and Anil Sapkota, in the construction.

Find out how this aims to improve the sanitation system in rapidly urbanising areas of Nepal.