The business of belief
How 42 entrepreneurs built a market for safe water
Ishwor Prasad Dahal remembers going door to door through rural Nepal, hoping families would give him a chance. He first learned about biosand filters 20 years ago, then began building them, and collecting names of people who were interested in buying them.
Ishwor Prasad Dahal near his family home and biosand filter manufacturing facility near Biratnagar in Nepal.
At the time, he was hauling the heavy concrete filters on the back of a buffalo pull-cart across rough roads and remote communities. The work was hard. Many families had never seen a biosand filter before and were not confident in how they worked. They were unsure whether it was worth the cost.
Still, Ishwor kept going. He believed that safer water could change people’s lives.
He had personally experienced how unsafe water, common in rural Nepal, exposes families to both microbiological pathogens and heavy chemical contamination, leading to frequent outbreaks of diarrheal diseases, viral hepatitis, and chronic conditions like arsenic poisoning and malnutrition that stunts children's growth. He was driven by the memory of two relatives lost due to diarrheal disease.
Thanks to Ishwor’s persistence and his success in bringing biosand filters to these communities, things began to change. He gained respect in the community by helping families overcome diarrheal disease. Families started noticing their children were getting sick less often. Neighbours shared their experiences with one another. Word travelled from household to household, village to village. Trust began spreading alongside safer water.
The difference the filters were making could easily be seen, as copper-coloured water would go in and come out clear. Drinkable, clean, life-saving water.
“By helping people to gain health, I also got my livelihood.”
Something else changed too. A community of entrepreneurs began to grow. A market was being created for the biosand filter. Competition could have divided them as each entrepreneur would try to survive in a fragile market. Instead, they chose collaboration.
The CAWST connection: from knowledge to ownership
They started helping one another, sharing ideas, tools, and even vehicles to move the heavy filters. The entrepreneurs solved technical problems, mentored newer members, and worked together to improve quality. This spirit of mutual support built trust in the biosand filters across their communities, proving that what united them was larger than business.
They had seen the impact with their own eyes. They had watched healthier children return to school. They had seen families gain confidence in the water they drank every day. They knew this work mattered. That spirit of collaboration eventually became the Biosand Filter Entrepreneurs Association of Nepal, or BiFEAN: a network built on a simple principle of entrepreneurs supporting entrepreneurs. Ishwor became a key figure in the network and was president of BiFEAN for 9 years. He is currently coordinating the network’s efforts in eastern Nepal.
“By helping people to gain health, I also got my livelihood,” he said.
Today, BiFEAN includes 42 entrepreneurs working across Nepal’s Tarai region and beyond.
Safe water did not just improve health in these communities. It created dignity, purpose and opportunity for the people helping deliver it.
Today, entrepreneurs in the network sell more than 10,000 biosand filters each year. More than 200,000 have been sold overall, reaching households, schools and institutions.
And the momentum has not slowed. People are still engaged. They are still excited. The network continues to grow because it no longer depends on one organization or one project, it belongs to the people themselves. Families trust local entrepreneurs because they know them personally. Entrepreneurs continue helping one another because they believe in what they are building together.
In communities across Nepal, that shared commitment is helping bring safer water to more people.
Emily Guebert, is a global water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) advisor with CAWST.