Water Shield Brings One Health Action to the Community in Keralam

What began as a student-led effort to understand drinking-water risks is now bringing One Health action directly into the community of Velur, Thrissur. The Water Shield student team is working with households, community volunteers, local government representatives, and veterinarians to identify water-safety risks, share practical knowledge, and explore solutions that can be sustained locally.

Water Shield — One Health Assessment of Drinking Water Quality and Health Risks in Velur, Kerala with Community-Based Intervention — is one of the winning projects of the SEAOHUN 2026 One Health Campus-to-Community (OH-C2C) Challenge, supported by Chevron.

From Campus to Community

As part of the project, the student team recently visited Velur to engage directly with residents and better understand their experiences and concerns around drinking water.

The visit brought students together with community members, panchayat representatives, local officials, and veterinarians. Through these conversations, residents shared their everyday practices and concerns around water collection, storage, treatment, and the protection of household water sources. The discussions also helped residents recognize that water can appear safe while still carrying risks.

“We always thought that clear-looking water was safe to drink. Now we understand that testing is just as important.” — Kausalya, Water Guardian

For Kausalya, becoming a Water Guardian means more than gaining new knowledge. It provides an opportunity to help share water-safety awareness within her community and support continued local action.

The team is working with 60 households through household surveys, water-quality testing, risk assessment, awareness activities, and follow-up interventions. The project also introduces Safe Water Chain kits and trains community volunteers as Water Guardians to support safe water practices beyond the project team’s direct involvement.

For other residents, the opportunity to test household water has brought attention to an issue they had rarely considered.

“We never really had the chance to test our water, and we had not thought much about how important water testing is. Now we understand its value, and we hope these services can continue in our village from time to time.” — Sunitha, Community Member

Exploring Practical Solutions

The project goes beyond assessment and awareness. The Water Shield team is also exploring a floating vetiver-based phytoremediation system as a nature-based approach to improving water quality in selected ponds.

By combining student knowledge with community experience, the team is exploring solutions that respond to local conditions while giving students practical experience in applying One Health approaches outside the classroom. 

“SEAOHUN gave students an opportunity to learn beyond the classroom and academic competitions. By working directly with rural communities, they experienced real-world challenges and developed leadership, teamwork, responsibility, and problem-solving skills. These field experiences also strengthened their understanding of community engagement and prepared them for future professional practice.” — Dr. Divya Rani Thomas, Assistant Professor, Department of Veterinary Public Health, Kerala Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, and Project Supervisor

Building Local Ownership

The community visit also opened conversations about how water-safety activities could continue beyond the current project period. Students, residents, panchayat representatives, veterinarians, and other local stakeholders discussed opportunities to strengthen awareness, local participation, and access to water-safety services. For the Water Shield team, the experience reinforced an important lesson:

“The community interaction reminded us that water safety is not only about testing samples. It is about listening to people, understanding their concerns, and working together to find solutions that can continue within the community.” — Water Shield Student Team

The experience in Velur demonstrates how student-led One Health projects can connect learning with community needs. By listening to residents and working alongside local stakeholders, the Water Shield team is helping turn knowledge into practical action—and creating opportunities for communities to play an active role in shaping solutions for their own water-safety challenges.