Abstract

Md. Nazmul Islam

The investigation aims to evaluate dug-well as a safe water alternative option in case of arsenic contamination in groundwater. The study was carried out with 129 dug-wells in both Rajshahi and Chapai Nawabganj districts of Bangladesh. Total arsenic concentration (AsT) was measured by HGAAS. 98% of total dug-well water contain arsenic below Bangladesh standard and 54% below WHO standard. Roughly, arsenic concentration decreased with increasing depth of dug-well. 60.5% of dugwell water was safe in terms of fecal coliform (FC) bacteria. Average disinfection period was found to be 30 days. In Simple Bleaching Treatment method, for 3-6, >6-10 and >10 ft depth of water 0.10, 0.15 and 0.25 kg of bleaching powder (having 32% chlorine) was required respectively. Both AsT and FC of dug-well water varies seasonally. Measurement of pH, turbidity and odor showed that the overall physical condition of the dug-well water was very good. On an average, 17 families of members 85 were used water from a single dug-well, one-third of which were fully satisfied with the water.

Arsenic; Fecal Coliform; pH; Turbidity; Dug-well; Hand pump; Safe water

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