ABSTRACT
ABSTRACT: The presence of elevated levels of naturally occurring arsenic in groundwater of Bangladesh, has severely impaired the decade long effort of providing safe water to nearly 98% of its population and putting an estimated 35 million people-nearly one fourth of the total population – at risk. In order to address this problem, a project titled “Arsenic in tubewell (TW) water and health consequences in Matlab Upazila of Chandpur district (AsMat)” is being implemented jointly by ICDDR,B and BRAC. During this study. all the TWs in Matlab have been assigned unique identification numbers, with marked GPS coordinates, depth, and age. It is estimated that nearly 65% of the about 13,000 TWs in Matlab have As concentrations above the Bangladesh drinking water standard (50g/L). In order to minimize arsenic exposure, a work to provide various alternate safe drinking water options to the exposed population has been initiated. As of March 2004, about 1047 different alternate safe water options, such as Pond Sand Filter (PSF), Rainwater Harvester (RWH) and different filters to remove arsenic as well as pathogenic bacteria, were distributed among the targeted exposed population in Matlab. To ensure sustainable use, the provided options were assessed based on community acceptability, technical viability, and financial viability.
