T251 Arsenic in Global Groundwater-Based Drinking Water Systems—Source-Water Characteristics, Safe Limits, Human-Health Impacts, Innovative Treatment Systems, and Policy Instruments

Wednesday, 25 September 2019
8:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Room 105BC, West Building

ROLE OF SCIENCE IN POLICY, SYSTEMS STRENGTHENING AND SUSTAINABLE SERVICE DELIVERY OF ARSENIC SAFE DRINKING WATER

Paper number: T251-16
Program: Technical Sessions
Time: 11:35 AM – 11:50 AM

Authors

Abstract

Bangladesh has made remarkable progress towards ensuring access to safe drinking water for all, although there is a gap between coverage and safety of the improved water sources. Over 97% people have the access to improved water sources but about 65% of them are affected by arsenic and microbial contamination. The Sector Development Plan (2011-2025) acknowledged the dependence on groundwater for the water supply coverage and identified geogenic arsenic, iron, manganese and salinity; environmental vulnerability; inadequate prioritization of arsenic prone areas; private sector capacity; and absence of harmonized sector wide approaches as the key challenges in scaling up drinking water safety in Bangladesh.

The project SASMIT (Sustainable Arsenic Mitigation) recognized the need for integrating the scientific results, social aspects and developed a protocol for providing safe and affordable access to water with high risks of arsenic exposure. It recognizes the need of capacity building of the local drillers to voice them in the decision-making process and came up with following key directives:

  • Mapping of intermediate deep aquifers as safe water source at a country wide scale
  • Incorporate relevant social aspects for tubewell installation considering the demand to ensure optimization of resources and benefits of the users
  • The recognition of the role of the local drillers as the driving force in tubewell installation

While UNICEF in collaboration with DPHE designed the Arsenic Safe Union (ASU) concept in 2015 and the ASU model uses the village as the unit of intervention and not the individual water source. It emphasizes vulnerability risk assessment for selecting most arsenic prone areas and endorses evidence based decision-making and advocacy. Presently, KTH Royal Institute of Technology along with UNICEF are working together in integrating science with indigenous knowledge using the Sediment Colour Tool and ASU model to improve private sector effectiveness in drilling for safe water access.

Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Vol. 51, No. 5

doi: 10.1130/abs/2019AM-335927

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