This article highlights important challenges for drinking water safety monitoring: A single water quality test may miss periods of faecal contamination and overestimate how safe a water supply really is. Analysis of 524 small water supplies across Bangladesh, Nepal and Tanzania found that E. coli contamination is predominantly intermittent rather than consistent. Isolated cross-sectional surveys can underestimate contamination prevalence by factors of 1.4–5 times. Sampling during periods of highest risk, especially in wet weather, is more effective at identifying at-risk water supplies.
Moving towards risk-based operational monitoring that focuses on the timing of sampling and includes strategies to progressively identify different contamination pathways is recommended.
Bangladesh
Disparities in exposure to hydrogeomorphic hazards in Bangladesh
This paper uses high-resolution hydrogeomorphic modelling, combined with population and wealth data, to provide a national-scale spatial assessment of exposure to hydrogeomorphic hazards across population and wealth groups in Bangladesh. Over 22 million people, making up 13% of the population, live within hydrogeomorphically unstable regions. 86% of these are within the lowest wealth groups of the population. Hydrogeomorphic hazards must be incorporated into disaster risk management and poverty alleviation efforts in Bangladesh and beyond.
Cross-comparative international, interdisciplinary mixed methods research for development: REACH-WISER Methodology
This working paper details the methodology used by the WISER collaboration within the REACH programme to explore how water insecurity is shaped by gender and social roles at household and community levels. The methods have been used to explore water security challenges such as flooding and salinity of drinking water in coastal Bangladesh; industrial growth in agricultural areas near Addis Ababa in Ethiopia; and water scarcity in Turkana County in northwest Kenya.
REACH Story of Change: SafePani – Public finance to support safe drinking water in Bangladesh
The SafePani model guarantees reliable drinking water services, free from faecal contamination, to rural schools (primary and secondary) and community clinics in rural Bangladesh. SafePani represents a change in National WASH Policy and national planning in Bangladesh. For the first time, safe drinking water services will be ensured in public schools and community clinics with a sustainable funding model to ensure accountable service delivery to 2030.
Participation, inclusion and reflexivity in multi-step (focus) group discussions
This paper draws on experiences of applying a cross-comparative approach (INITI8) combining community-based participant observation with focus group discussions in water security research across Bangladesh, Ethiopia, and Kenya. The authors reflect on the tensions and resulting re-work related to power dynamics in North-South and local collaborations, and on the socio-spatial inclusion implications of the research design, in particular definition of peri-urban areas and engagement with illiterate women in rural areas.
From participation to empowerment the case of women in community‑based water management in hydrologically diverse southwest coastal Bangladesh
Women’s participation in water management institutions (WMOs) is seen as a vehicle for female empowerment and gender equity, yet this does not guarantee women are actively involved in decision making. This paper investigates opportunities for women’s empowerment via participation in WMOs in water insecure southwest coastal Bangladesh. Using qualitative research tools and methods, the study examines the extent and nature of women’s participation in WMOs and the factors that affect the level of participation in varying hydrological settings.
Balancing growth and river protection in Bangladesh’s most important export industries
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.
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.