how do tubewells provide cleaner water?
Answers
Groundwater extracted from arsenic contaminated aquifers in worst affected areas of Bangladesh by shallow tubewells can no longer be considered safe for drinking and cooking. Although 27 % of shallow tubewells are known to be contaminated in the national scale, in many areas more than 90% of shallow tubewells are contaminated. The problem has been magnified due to the fact that the tubewells with high levels of arsenic are also located in the areas where percentage of contaminated tubewells is high. In the absence of an alternative source, people in acute arsenic problem areas are drinking arsenic contaminated water without paying much attention to possible consequences. On the other hand, people with arsenic phobia are likely to use unprotected surface water to avoid arsenic poisoning and get sick by water borne/related diseases. Arsenic toxicity has no known effective treatment, but drinking of arsenic free water can help the arsenic affected people to get rid of the symptoms of arsenic toxicity. Hence, provision of arsenic free water is urgently needed to mitigate arsenic toxicity and protect health and well being of rural people living in acute arsenic problem areas of Bangladesh.
The options available for water supply in the arsenic affected areas can be brought into two major categories:
alternative arsenic-safe water source, and
Treatment of arsenic contaminated water.
Groundwater from deep aquifers and dug wells, surface water and rain water can be potential sources of water supply to avoid arsenic ingestion through shallow tubewell water. On the other hand, there are several treatment methods available to reduce arsenic concentration to acceptable levels for water supply.