WATER FOR PEACETM
--DRINKING WATER
 TM |
ONE BASIC MISSION OF WATER FOR PEACE IS TO PROVIDE DRINKING WATER.
THE WATER FOR PEACE METHOD FOR DRINKING WATER DISTRIBUTION IS UNIQUE IN SEVERAL WAYS:
CONTAINERS ARE A REUSABLE DESIGN OF 1/2 LITER, ONE LITER, TWO LITER, FOUR LITER AND EIGHT LITER VOLUMES. THEY HAVE A UNIQUE WIDE CAP WITH INDIVIDUAL DRINKING SPOUTS. AFTER USE THE STANDARD WIDE MOUTH CAP CONVERTS THE CONTAINER INTO STORAGE FOR RICE, WHEAT, AND FOOD PRODUCTS OF ALL KINDS AS WELL AS ITEMS SUCH AS NAILS, BUTTONS, MEDICINE, ETC.
THE WATER WILL BE DONATED.
THE CONTAINERS WILL BE DONATED.
THE DISTRIBUTION WILL BE DONATED THROUGH EXISTING AND YET TO BE CREATED PATHS.
PARTNER COMPANIES PARTICIPATING DIRECTLY IN THE DONATION OF WATER AND CONTAINERS WILL BE ACKNOWLEDGED ON THIS WEB SITE. NATIONS ARE ALSO ENCOURAGED TO DIRECTLY PARTICIPATE.
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EVEN WHEN WE THINK WE HAVE SOLVED A PROBLEM, THE UNEXPECTED MAY ARISE. THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE BY DR. ARIF MOHIUDDIN SIKDER ILLUSTRATES THE NEED FOR CONTINUED DILIGENCE. IT IS BUT ONE OF MANY GRAVE PROBLEMS THAT WE FACE.
The
arsenic contamination in the ground water at a shallow depth in rural areas of
Bangladesh and West Bengal has introduced a challenging problem to the
scientists and community development worker of the country and abroad.
For decades prior to 1970, people of Bangladesh relied on surface and subsurface
water for their daily requirements, which was mostly contaminated by human and
animal excreta, and as a result, thousands had died each year from water-borne
diarrhea diseases including cholera. Since the early 70’s an enormous efforts
had been given and millions of dollars were spent by Western aid agencies,
primarily UNICEF and World Bank to install tubewells to tap ground water which
was considered to be bacteriologically safe, economical and, suitable for
cooking as well as drinking. International charities have also funded thousands
of tube-wells (hand pumps) to provide the people of Bangladesh with clean and
safe drinking water.
But no one had ever thought of the possibility of any chemical contaminant
coming up from underground with the apparently safe water. Now in the beginning
of a new millennium, with an estimated 6 to 8 million tube wells installed and
nearly 97% of the population having access to safe water sources and diarrhea
incidence and deaths therefore having diminished substantially, the tubewell
water has turned out to be unsafe in large areas of Bangladesh. Many of the
tubewells are now yielding water containing ‘arsenic’ at levels higher than
the maximum acceptable limit of 0.05 mg/L. as adopted by Bangladesh (WHO
guideline value being 0.01 mg/L). Thus, tubewell water is no longer
considering safe everywhere. The arsenic contamination of tubewell water has
brought down the national coverage of access to safe drinking water from 97% to
74%.
the Arsenic Research Group [BD] is established in 1998, comprises a number
of experts who are together conducting multi-disciplinary research aimed at
combating the hazards posed by arsenic contamination in the ground water of the
Bengal Basin. Following are details of core members and projects.
I. ARG is conducting an action research programme in the union (consisting of
about five villages) of Daudkandi Thana, of the district of Comilla. The
programme is on the bank of the river Goumati. Extension of the area of activity
into the nearby villages on either side of the river is anticipated, in order to
includes Matlab, Gajaria and Homna Thana] and the target population of more than
100,000.
Present activity of Arsenic Research group [BD] includes (on going project):
1. Tube-well screening and mapping of the water bodies in the target area.
2. A household and health survey identifying the extent of the population at
risk.
3. An awareness building campaign in the target community.
4. Safe waters interventions given through:
I. Household based de-arsenation units.
These consist of an oxidant and coagulant based bucket system, with reverse
circulation through a specially designed filter, in order to ensure the control
of residual chemical in the output.
II. Modified Sanitary Dug-wells with sand filtration (DSF).
ARG has already installed sanitary dug-wells in the target area, with the
capacity of supplying about 1500 liters of safe water per day. [ http://phys4.harvard.edu/~wilson/21-8drawing.jpg]
III. Earthen
ware based low cost purification media is in the final phase of development as an alternate
option. The media is intended to render surface water free from fecal coliforms.
[www.
geocities.com/earthenwarecandle/ http://phys4.harvard.edu/~wilson/remediation/ACER.html]
IV.
Geo-scientific work includes several exploratory borings with 'split spoon'
systems. These have been carried out in order to collect intact, undisturbed
soil/sediment samples from the sedimentary sequence above and within those
aquifers that yield water that indicates unusually high amounts of arsenic.
Sedimentological, mineralogical and chemical analyses are being undertaken in
order to ascertain the cause and mechanism of arsenic contamination in the
'Bengal Delta Plain'.
Arif Mohiuddin Sikder, Ph.D.Geologist
Coordinator, Arsenic Research Group [BD], 306 Iqbal Center
[2nd floor], 42 Kemal Ataturk Avenue,
Banani, Dhaka 1213 Bangladesh Phone: 880 2 882 9980 Email: gem@global-bd.net
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