HHRD Unveils Water Filtration Station at Afghan University

Helping Hand for Relief and Development (HHRD) has completed a two-tank water filtration system at Parwan University in Charikar, Afghanistan, the fourth and final installation in a series of campus water projects under HHRD’s Water and Sanitation Hygiene (WASH) program. The launch was celebrated on campus with prayer and marked publicly on HHRD’s social media.

Parwan University serves roughly 7,000 students. The new system fills dual tanks on a regular basis with water filtered for bacteria, sediment, and salinity, giving students and staff a reliable source of safe drinking water throughout the academic year.

Why It Matters

Most Afghans lack access to running water and instead draw from rivers, springs, streams, ponds, and wells, sources that are frequently contaminated and linked to widespread waterborne illness. On university campuses, that means students often go without, relying on costly bottled water or bringing water from home. For a campus the size of Parwan’s, consistent access to clean water isn’t a convenience; it’s an operational necessity that directly affects student health and focus.

Part of a Broader Strategy

The Parwan installation follows the same model HHRD has used at other institutions. At Nangarhar University, HHRD installed a 2,000-liter filtration system at the Faculty of Computer Science, extending safe drinking water access to about 1,200 students and staff.

The approach is intentionally replicable: by placing filtration units in high-traffic academic buildings, HHRD can scale WASH services efficiently across campuses without reinventing its model each time.

HHRD says it will continue assessing additional university sites for future WASH support, as part of its wider effort to strengthen community resilience and address the links between poverty and lack of basic infrastructure in Afghanistan.