Quality and efficiency assessment, health issues and management practices of pond sand filter water in coastal Bangladesh

Abstract

PSF is developed to purify surface (pond) water to meet the domestic consumption in the coastal regions of Bangladesh. The objectives are to assess PSF water quality through WQI, HEI, HPI and HI; assess filtration efficiency through 18 parameters; health issues and management practices of PSF water in two coastal areas of Bangladesh. Khontakata (Bagerhat) and Helatala (Satkhira) Unions are purposively selected from shoreline (A) and inland (B) area based on the distance from the coastline of the country. Total 64 samples (equally distributed between PSF and the respective pond) from 16 sampling locations are experimented with 18 physio-chemical and heavy metals to accomplish the study. Furthermore, four FGDs are also conducted with a predetermined checklist to understand the health issues and current management practices of PSF. The study reveals that all heavy metals are within the permissible limit for all sampling locations except one station (only lead) of inland village. Mean of WQI, HPI and HI adult follow the reducing trend and HEI, HI infant , HI child follow the increasing trend from shoreline to inland area. Therefore, it is argued that 50% water samples from both A and B areas are categorized into ‘good’ based on WQI. In addition, HEI results show that 60% and 83.33% water samples from A and B areas are categorized into ‘no effect’ and ‘slightly affected’, respectively. Depending upon HPI, 40% and 83.33% water samples from these areas are categorized into ‘slightly affected’ and ‘no effect’, respectively. About 90% and 70% water samples (shoreline) and 100% samples (inland) are unsafe (HI > 1) for child and adult. Ultimately, human health may deteriorate for long-term consumption of contaminated water. Finally, FGDs claim that people participate in maintenance and operational activities willingly; sometimes, it will not be possible because of village politics or grouping among the households. The owner of the pond is dedicated to perform the necessary repairing and operational activities in the shoreline area, but people of the inland area are fully dependent on government aid or financing. In this regard, intensive care and frequent checkup along with cooperation and coordination among different stakeholders may ensure the better performance of PSF.

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