Introduction :
The
presence of arsenic in underground shallow tubewells has
created severe national concern regarding safe water
access by the rural communities in Bangladesh. Different
alternative arsenic-free safe water technologies have been
already installed to combat the arsenic crisis in many
arsenic affected areas with support from international
communities. But it was found that these alternative water
supply options as well as shallow tubewells are very
susceptible to microbiological contamination because of
lacking proper operation and maintenance of these
alternative water options. At the same time, different
studies reveals that there is a high potential of
contaminating these safe water with pathogenic
microorganisms during collection, transportation, storage
and consumption. This contamination is generally termed as
secondary contamination of safe water. So to ensure safe
drinking water supply to rural communities a comprehensive
management of safe water. So to ensure safe drinking water
supply to rural communities a comprehensive management of
drinking water needs to be developed in such a way that
the community can operate and maintain their own water
supplies themselves. In view of this objective, the Safe
Water System was developed by the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention and the Panamerican Health
Organization in response to the risk of secondary
contamination.
The SWS is
increasingly used as a platform for hygiene promotion. The
Safe Water System (SWS) is a water quality intervention that
employs simple, robust, and inexpensive technologies
appropriate for the developing world. The objective is to make
water safe through disinfection and safe storage at the point
of use.
The SWS is also
used as an entry point into households for the promotion and
implementation of other interventions. Other SWS applications
include improving street vendor hygiene in beverage
preparation, prevention of contamination of fluids used in
re-hydrating cholera victims, and the prevention of diarrhoeal
infections in persons with HIV/AIDS.
Project Implementation Area :
1 slum of
Chittagong City Corporation namely Motijhorna is selected for
this project with 300 households.
Project Duration : July
2007 – June 2008
Overall Objective :
To reduce
health affect including diarrhoeal prevalence through
introducing Safe Water System as an effective,
sustainable and affordable Microbiological treatment options
of drinking water in urban and peri urban areas of Bangladesh
Specific Objectives :
1. Create
awareness among the community people in using safe water for
drinking purposes.
2. Change the
behavior of community people specially hand washing using soap
in critical time to improve water and food handling practices.
3. Introduce
dilute sodium hypochlorite solution (Clotech) as an effective
microbiological treatment option and assess the performance
and acceptability.
Project Activities:
1. Hygiene
promotion campaign
2. Training
3. Private sector involvement in Market promotion
4. Monitoring and evaluation
5. Documentation
6. Distribution of narrow mouthed water storage tank
7. Distribution of sodium hypochlorite solution
8. Water quality testing |
