Problems Affecting Availability of Arsenic Free Drinking Water

The main objective of the present study was to assess the problems affecting availability of arsenic free drinking water in Bangladesh in two selected arsenic affected areas namely Bhanga and Matlab upazilas under Faridpur and Chandpur districts, respectively. The adult male and female arsenic patients were the unit of analysis. Simple random sampling technique was followed in selecting sample. Data were collected by using both quantitative and qualitative methods. About three-fourths of the respondents belonged to high problem category. Age, education, farm size, number of training, extension contact, organizational participation and annual family income had significant negative relationship with the problems. Among the problems affecting availability of arsenic free water, “paucity of spare parts of arsenic removal devices in the community level”, “scarcity of drinking water near household”, “difficulty of storing rain water for long time due to lack of handy reservoir” and “lack of suitable reservoir for long time storing of harvested rain water” were the majors. Invention of low-cost arsenic free tube-well with easy distribution of spare parts through local government, provision of short duration training and arrangement of subsidy for establishment of arsenic free tube-well and rain water harvester especially for poor group of people is strongly suggested.