Arsenic Contaminated Groundwater in Bangladesh: A Threat to Human Health and A Source of Drinking Water

Abstract

The groundwater contamination by arsenic in Bangladesh has become a natural threat and people are suffering through drinking water. The scale and effect of this natural disaster is greater than anything seen before. In Bangladesh, people are using groundwater by pumping tube wells. Historically, tube wells were installed to prevent illness and death from gastrointestinal diseases. The purpose of this paper is to discuss, the recent arsenic contamination status, the relation between arsenic contamination and over-exploitation of contamination and the age of the tube wells groundwater as well as that between arsenic contamination and the age of the tube wells. A survey of tube wells (n=2435) from three villages, selected by a NGO, under Damurhuda Upazila of Bangladesh, has shown that 22% of tube wells are arsenic contaminated. An analysis of the collected data indicates that arsenic contamination has relation with over-exploitation of ground water but not with the age of the tube wells. This unlikely relation with the age of the tube wells leads the area for further studies. Due to the contamination, it is an important issue for further studies, as a priority, towards sources of safe drinking water.