TY - JOUR
T1 - Water Scarcity and Challenges for Access to Safe Water
T2 - A Case of Bangladesh's Coastal Area Vulnerable to Climate Change
AU - Talukder, Mohammad Radwanur Rahman
AU - Rutherford, Shannon
AU - Islam, Khairul
AU - Chu, Cordia
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 - IOS Press and the authors. All rights reserved.
PY - 2020/10
Y1 - 2020/10
N2 - Existing efforts to ensure safe water access in coastal Bangladesh are challenged by increasing freshwater salinity. This research explored/explores safe water consumption choices in coastal Bangladesh, which data are scarce to date, using a mixed-methods approach. In 2014, a cross-sectional survey was conducted in southwestern coastal Bangladesh (n=261) and data was generated on water supply and consumption. Data collection also involved 29 in-depth interviews of household care givers and focus group discussions were performed with three community groups. Descriptive statistics were applied to analyse quantitative data and thematic analysis was used for qualitative data. The survey showed that 60% of the study population used tube well water while 40% used pond water for drinking. It was observed that for cooking purposes, the use of pond water was slightly higher than the tube well water. Only 13% of the respondents mentioned that their drinking water tasted salty whereas 6% of the respondents reported health problem (diarrhoea, dysentery, gastric issues and skin problems) after using these water sources. The qualitative data reveals that water available for drinking and cooking is causing a serious threat to this coastal community, particularly during the dry season. In-depth assessments indicated that drinking water choices were less driven by concerns for health than practical issues such as travel distance and time taken and taste. The palatability of water was an important determinant of choice for drinking and other domestic uses. Furthermore, the utility of alternative options for safe drinking water is driven by beliefs and traditions and source maintenance. Given the increasing salinisation of freshwaters in many low-lying countries and likely exacerbation related to climate change-induced sea level rise, therefore, promotion of low saline drinking water along with salt reducing interventions consider that community beliefs and practices must be a made priority.
AB - Existing efforts to ensure safe water access in coastal Bangladesh are challenged by increasing freshwater salinity. This research explored/explores safe water consumption choices in coastal Bangladesh, which data are scarce to date, using a mixed-methods approach. In 2014, a cross-sectional survey was conducted in southwestern coastal Bangladesh (n=261) and data was generated on water supply and consumption. Data collection also involved 29 in-depth interviews of household care givers and focus group discussions were performed with three community groups. Descriptive statistics were applied to analyse quantitative data and thematic analysis was used for qualitative data. The survey showed that 60% of the study population used tube well water while 40% used pond water for drinking. It was observed that for cooking purposes, the use of pond water was slightly higher than the tube well water. Only 13% of the respondents mentioned that their drinking water tasted salty whereas 6% of the respondents reported health problem (diarrhoea, dysentery, gastric issues and skin problems) after using these water sources. The qualitative data reveals that water available for drinking and cooking is causing a serious threat to this coastal community, particularly during the dry season. In-depth assessments indicated that drinking water choices were less driven by concerns for health than practical issues such as travel distance and time taken and taste. The palatability of water was an important determinant of choice for drinking and other domestic uses. Furthermore, the utility of alternative options for safe drinking water is driven by beliefs and traditions and source maintenance. Given the increasing salinisation of freshwaters in many low-lying countries and likely exacerbation related to climate change-induced sea level rise, therefore, promotion of low saline drinking water along with salt reducing interventions consider that community beliefs and practices must be a made priority.
KW - coastal Bangladesh
KW - safe water
KW - Salinity
KW - water resource management
KW - water scarcity
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85095828524&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3233/AJW200045
DO - 10.3233/AJW200045
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85095828524
VL - 17
SP - 1
EP - 9
JO - Asian Journal of Water, Environment and Pollution
JF - Asian Journal of Water, Environment and Pollution
SN - 0972-9860
IS - 4
ER -