Enhancing the capacity of local drillers for installing arsenic-safe drinking water wells — experience from Matlab, Bangladesh

Enhancing the capacity of local drillers for installing arsenic-safe drinking water wells — experience from Matlab, Bangladesh

Nearly 90% of the estimated 10 million tubewells in Bangladesh are installed privately by local drillers for rural drinking water supplies in Bangladesh. The awareness of local drillers on elevated Arsenic (As) concentrations in tubewell water at shallow depths have made them change their practice of installation of tubewells. Using the visual color attributes of the shallow sediments (<100 m) and content of dissolved iron, generally associated with high As concentrations, the local drillers presently install community tubewells at depths targeting red/brownish or off-white sediments. This study recognizes the local tubewell drillers as important stakeholder in the business of tubewell installation. A Sediment Color Tool has been developed to enhance the local driller’s capacity to identify the As-safe aquifers that would bring significant change to reduce As exposure and scale-up safe water access in rural Bangladesh.

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