This REACH policy brief presents recommendations for sustainable sedimentation management in the coastal rivers of Southwest Bangladesh. Working with the Bangladesh Water Development Board and using data from a comprehensive measurement campaign in the Hari-Ghengrail-Sibsa river system, we argue systems-wide management approaches will lead to more effective and sustainable solutions.
Water Quality
Identifying the Sources of Intestinal Colonization With Extended-Spectrum β-Lactamase-Producing Escherichia coli in Healthy Infants in the Community
This study aimed to identify the sources of ESBL-Ec colonization in children < 1 year old through comparative analysis of E. coli isolates from child stool, child’s mother stool, and point-of-use drinking water from 46 rural households in Bangladesh. Interventions such as improved hygiene practices and a safe drinking water supply may help reduce the transmission of ESBL-Ec at the household level.
Fear, Efficacy, and Environmental Health Risk Reporting: Complex Responses to Water Quality Test Results in Low-Income Communities
This paper investigates how water quality information influences water safety management in rural Kenya. The authors find that while poverty threatscapes and gender norms hinder behaviour change, test results can motivate supply-level managers to implement hazard control measures.
Infrastructure alone cannot ensure resilience to weather events in drinking water supplies
The paper presents a novel multi-country empirical study measuring weather impact on water quality. Results show that weather-related shocks affect drinking water quality and health, requiring strengthened climate resilience that addresses management and infrastructure.
Invited perspective: Beyond National Water Quality Surveys: Improving Water Quality Surveillance to Achieve Safe Drinking Water for All (Sustainable Development Goal 6.1)
This perspective summarises a recent paper from the Joint Monitoring Program team (Bain et al. 2021), and recommends three key areas for capacity strengthening to advance water safety toward achieving SDG 6.1: better information through risk-based monitoring, improved institutional clarity on roles and responsibilities, and more investment in mainstream water safety planning.
Drinking Water Quality in Bangladesh | 2021 Updates
This report shares key findings from the Bangladesh Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) 2019: Water Quality Thematic Report, based on water quality testing and survey carried out in 2019 by Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics in collaboration with UNICEF and icddr,b.
Global prospects to deliver safe drinking water services for 100 million rural people by 2030
This report documents a global diagnostic survey to evaluate the status and prospects of rural water service providers from 68 countries.
River pollution and social inequalities in Dhaka, Bangladesh
This study seeks to understand the socio-spatial and seasonal inequalities in pollution risks in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The authors designed a direct observation method to record people’s daily river use activities across dry and wet seasons, complemented by monthly monitoring of river water quality, heavy metal and biotoxicity assessment a large-scale household survey along a 25km stretch of the Turag River and Tongi Khal in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Optimizing rural drinking water supply infrastructure to account for spatial variations in groundwater quality and household welfare in Coastal Bangladesh
This study examines decision-making to invest in drinking water infrastructure in coastal Bangladesh, where increasing saline intrusion in aquifers intersects with high levels of poverty for the 20 million people living in the coastal region
Natural and anthropogenic sources of salinity in the Awash River and Lake Beseka (Ethiopia): Modelling impacts of climate change and lake-river interactions
This study simulated chloride concentration in Ethioia’s Awash River Basin by taking both natural and anthropogenic sources of salinity into consideration. Future scenarios of climate change and Lake Beseka discharge were examined to assess the impact to the river water quality.
