Balancing economic growth and river protection is a significant undertaking, but not an impossible one. This policy paper addresses the environmental, social, and regulatory complexities surrounding industrial production in Bangladesh. It examines how power dynamics in global supply chains influence state-market regulatory relationships and provides recommendations to strengthen state regulatory capacity, enhance civil society participation in regulatory processes, and strengthen public-private partnerships through global-local alignment.
Bangladesh
Assessing flooding extent and potential exposure to river pollution from urbanizing peripheral rivers within Greater Dhaka watershed
This study looked into the water quality and flooding situation of Greater Dhaka for two successive monsoons through extensive river sampling coupled with the estimation of flooded area and exposed population using remote sensing tools.
REACH Story of Change: Cleaning the tap: Tap hygiene for safer drinking water
Water use behaviour impacts the hygiene of water collection points which can therefore impact water quality. While previous research has focused largely on household hygiene, REACH research has demonstrated how a systematic gap between engineering and hygiene considerations in the water sector is reducing access to safe drinking water. This Story of Change explores how regular cleaning of water point spouts and taps in Bangladesh could substantially reduce the number of people who lack access to uncontaminated drinking water (currently estimated to be between 2-4 billion people worldwide).
REACH Story of Change: Monitoring and modelling river water quality to protect Dhaka’s river system
This Story of Change describes the establishment of an advanced river water quality modelling system in Dhaka. The system allows decisionmakers to assess the potential impacts of current activities and future growth on river health, and to explore strategies for mitigation such as improved industrial wastewater management and new sewage treatment plants. Ready Made Garment Industry actors have engaged with the model to understand and respond to pollution from their factories.
Water quality and unseen health outcomes: A cross-sectional study on arsenic contamination, subclinical disease and psychosocial distress in Bangladesh
Health risks from water quality pose a major threat to billions of people globally. Most microbial contaminants have short subclinical periods, compared to chemical contaminants that can take years to manifest, which can translate to less attention in the policy sphere. This paper presents a cross-sectional study of water quality in Bangladesh, assessing both subclinical disease and the psychosocial distress associated with varying water quality issues.
Water for healthcare is for more than drinking – Rethinking the water service indicators for healthcare facilities
Healthcare water systems are a critical but overlooked source of healthcare-associated infections. This poster presented at Singapore International Water Week 2024 details a cross-sectional study to examine the quality of water services in Bangladesh public hospitals as assessed by the JMP WASH in Healthcare Facilities indicator, and the utility of E. coli as an indicator of safe water for healthcare use.
Multibranch Modelling of Flow and Water Quality in the Dhaka River System, Bangladesh: Impacts of Future Development Plans and Climate Change
The rivers of Dhaka, Bangladesh, suffer high levels of pollution from untreated sewage and industrial effluent. To address this, over the next 20 years, the government is planning to install 12 large Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs) across the Dhaka River System. This paper applies a water quality model to assess the efficacy of this planned investment. The model suggests that the STPs will improve water quality in the most densely populated areas of the city along the Turag and Buriganga rivers, and in some other parts of the city (Tongi Khal). However, future upgrades will be needed to improve dissolved oxygen levels more widely, due to predicted population growth. Policies to reduce industrial pollution should also be pursued.
Story of Change: Sustainable management of sedimentation risks in coastal rivers in southwest Bangladesh
1.3 million people in Coastal Bangladesh are impacted by severe waterlogging due to riverbed sedimentation. This Story of Change presents work by a research team from the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology and the Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB) to characterize hydrodynamic processes and sediment transport dynamics in the area, with potential implications for different types of interventions. Recommendations include increasing freshwater flows by restoring upstream river-river and river-floodplain connectivity and reducing “repeated dredging” of the same area.
Story of Change: Fit-for-purpose labs for monitoring and managing rural water supplies
In Nepal, Kenya and Bangladesh, researchers working with practitioners and local governments have established fit-for-purpose (FFP) laboratories to support reliable water quality monitoring and operational management of rural water systems
Hydrogeologic Constraints for Drinking Water Security in Southwest Coastal Bangladesh: Implications for Sustainable Development Goal 6.1
This article analyzes drinking water security in southwest coastal Bangladesh, through an in-depth field investigation. It reveals that the exponential growth of groundwater-based technologies, such as tube wells, does not necessarily indicate the actual safe drinking water coverage in coastal areas, due to complex hydrogeology with the high spatial variability of groundwater salinity risks.
