SDG 6: Clean Water and Sanitation

6Water in the community

UPES students, staff and partners teach water care, restore water sources and clean rivers around Dehradun, and work with government on water security.

Water management education for the community

• Hygiene education. GS3's Project Ayushman taught hygiene and resource conservation to about 1,000 students in eight government schools.
• Young problem-solvers. On 11 August 2026, Runway Incubator and the Department of Social Outreach worked with 155 students of classes 9 to 12 at Government Inter College, Paundha, where water conservation and smart water use was one of five community challenges the students tackled (see the event report^[1]).
• Jal Samadhan. During its seven-day camp in April 2023, NSS UPES held a water-conservation day in Bidholi village with a rally on rainwater harvesting, an explanation of how it works, live working models and a street play.
• Swachhta Pakhwara. NSS volunteers ran water conservation workshops.
• Menstrual health. Project Lakhon Khawahishen gave reusable menstrual cups and training to about 1,200 women, and GS3's Project Sakhi reached more than 1,000 girls in 10 government schools.

Promoting conscious water use

• On campus. At Sustainability Fair 3.0 (9–10 April 2025), the Vice Chancellor and Padma Bhushan environmentalist Dr Anil Prakash Joshi explained the switch from RO to UV-treated water and how it cuts water waste.
• In the community. Street plays, rallies and workshops in villages and schools encourage households to harvest rainwater and save water.

Off-campus water conservation

• Restoring water sources. Srijan interns working with Bhawana Sewa Sansthan helped restore wells and ponds under the Jal Jeevan Mission.
• Water for villages. Srijan interns working with Urvita assessed community water needs and helped install water filters.
• River clean-ups. Through Project Naraini, the student group GS3 has run five river-cleaning drives in Dehradun.
• Model villages. Project Utthan works on sanitation, health and clean energy with the villages of Dhalani and Koti, and Project Swachhata runs cleanliness drives in nearby communities.

Cooperation with government on water security

• Central Ground Water Authority. The authority recognises UPES as a Zero Water Discharge campus.
• Jal Jeevan Mission. Students support the national drinking water mission through work on wells and ponds with local partners.
• Department of Science and Technology. The DST funds the microalgae wastewater reclamation plant built with the NGO Vikalp Nai Dishayen.
• National Institute of Hydrology and IIT Roorkee. From 6 to 8 August 2025, UPES hosted the 5th International Forum on Asian Water Environment Technology (IFAWET-5) with the University of Tokyo, Tecnológico de Monterrey, the National Institute of Hydrology and IIT Roorkee, with participants from 12 countries. At Himalaya Calling 2025, engineers, scientists and local practitioners discussed nature-based solutions for Himalayan rivers.