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 Delivering
Clean Water and Sanitation Services through the Private
Sector
Endowed with significant fresh water resources, Bangladesh
has nevertheless traveled a bumpy road on the way to
universal clean water access. One major success of the
past decades was the population's reduced reliance on
disease-prone surface water, an achievement made possible
by the installation of millions of tube wells around the
country. Today nearly all the rural population has access
to these wells, but, unfortunately, the discovery of
naturally occurring arsenic in many wells has greatly
reduced the availability of safe drinking water. Millions
of people are now drinking from contaminated wells and it
is estimated that thousands will die each year from
arsenic related cancers unless significant actions are
taken to find alternative sources of safe water. In
addition to the problems posed by arsenic, a growing
number of wells are running dry during the dry season
because increased pumping of groundwater for irrigation
has lowered the water table in many regions to levels
below what is reached by standard hand pumps.
Moving beyond the alarming number of Bangladeshi's who
lack basic access to safe water, an overwhelming part of
the population is deprived of the safety and convenience
of piped water in their homes. Recent studies have found
that just 7% of the overall population and just 2% of the
poor have access to this service which greatly reduces the
drudgery related to water collection and improves overall
public health. Other surveys have shown a strong interest
in and willingness to pay for piped water projects, even
among the poor. In
addition to their inadequate access to
safe water, only 35% of the poor now use proper toilet
facilities and open defecation is still a very common
practice in rural areas.
Clearly then there are major opportunities to improve the
health and well being of the rural poor through improved
access to safe water and sanitation facilities. Given its
extensive experience developing clean water technologies
and delivering them to the rural poor through the private
sector, IDE is well placed to contribute to new
interventions in Bangladesh's water and sanitation sector.
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