Drinking Water Problems and Possible Alternatives in Coastal Region of Bangladesh: A Case Study

Abstract

Safe drinking water for the coastal areas of Bangladesh has become a big challenge. Arsenic adulteration and salinity intrusion in surface water body has accelerated the scarcity of water in the coastal region. As situation ameliorating and also investment for water-borne diseases is decreasing, it becomes the major threat for a third-world country like Bangladesh. There are lots of alternatives for water supply but there are also a huge number of constraints. Most of the traditional dug wells (DW), ring wells (RW) and alternative pond sand filters (PSF) are now inoperative due to shortage of fresh surface water body and also adequate maintenance. Except a few, most of the shallow tube wells (STW) and deep tube wells (DTW) in coastal areas face arsenic (As) contamination. There could be a blended solution for these problems based on existing situation, constraint, hydrogeology and individual’s economy. Different kinds of filters, reverse osmosis (RO), solar desalination plants (low-cost and small scale) and fuel-powered desalination plants (high-cost and large scale), etc., would be a good solution for mitigation of these problems. Solar PSF and rain water harvesting (RWH) might be an effective solution for some areas, respectively where fresh water and rainfall is abundant. Keywords: Arsenic contamination, salinity intrusion, climate change, pond sand filter, rain water harvesting, desalination, natural disaster