Access to Safe Water and Sanitation in Gazipur, Bangladesh Advancing the Targets towards Sustainable Development Goal 6

Abstract

Safe drinking water and basic sanitation remain major concerns in rapidly growing urban areas of Bangladesh. In this study, household water quality and sanitation conditions in eight unions of Gazipur were assessed with reference to SDG 6. Two hundred samples were taken from households during the dry (December-February) and wet (March-August) seasons, and 14 physio chemicals and microorganisms were analyzed. The storage practices, cleaning frequency of the tanks, access to sanitation and hygienic practices were recorded using a structured questionnaire. Results were presented with the Integrated Water Quality Index (IWQI) and differences among seasons were determined by Wilcoxon signed-rank test, relationship between practices was tested with Pearson’s chi-square tests and correlations between parameters analyzed. The outcome revealed that Microbiological contamination (E. coli) was a common problem for all seasons where manganese and to less extent iron often exceeded guideline. Dissolved salt generally reduced during monsoon while turbidity and risk towards microbial were high keeping IWQI classes lower than dry season. A strong association was also found with infrequent cleaning of tanks and E. coli presence, highlighting an intervention point. Overall, the results indicate that pre monsoon tank management, first flush diversion, point of use disinfection and focused heavy metal control including Fe and Mn can improve household water quality to contribute to achieving SDG 6 in Gazipur.