HOUSEHOLD LEVEL PURIFICATION TECHNIQUE TREND IN DHAKA CITY

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1 Proceedings of the 2 nd International Conference on Civil Engineering for Sustainable Development (ICCESD-2014), 14~16 February 2014, KUET, Khulna, Bangladesh HOUSEHOLD LEVEL PURIFICATION TECHNIQUE TREND IN DHAKA CITY S. Ghosh* 1, A.M. Redwan 1 and M.M. Rahman 2 1 Undergraduate Student, Department of Civil Engineering, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, Bangladesh, shayok076@gmail.com., asef_hims@yahoo.com 2 Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technolgy, Bangladesh, mafizur@gmail.com ABSTRACT As Dhaka is the capital of Bangladesh, rapid urbanization and population growth in last decades have changed the physical environment of this city. An estimated 3.4 million people live in 5000 slums of Dhaka (Islam, 1999).The population of Dhaka city is growing so fast that the improvements on water supply have failed to keep pace. This study concentrated to provide an overview of drinking and non-drinking water source pattern of various socio-economic groups.according to this study, 71% city dwellers depend on Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority (DWASA) supplied water sources (both piped supply and deep tube well) for drinking purpose.the study areas were selected on the basis of vulnerability to water borne diseases.this study also focused on pattern of purification technique used at user s end and co-related with socio-economic aspect. In this study it was observed that about 39% peoples used no purification method at user s level of the study areas which leads to a very alarming situation. Keywords: Dhaka City, Drinking Water, Purification Technique,User s End, 1. INTRODUCTION The rapid and uneven urbanization has resulted in growth of informal settlements, inter-city and intra-city gaps in water supply coverage. About 35 percent slum dwellers of Dhaka city is living in only 4 percent of land area while the hygienic sanitation in slums is only 12 percent at the moment. Piped water coverage in Dhaka is about 83 percent. The gap is wide in the consumption pattern as from about 20 litres per capita-day in low income slums to about 400 litres per capita-day are provided in high income areas. Rapid urbanization is posing a great problem to ensure potable water supply for all in Dhaka City. Only 55% of the Dhaka s urban poor currently receive tap water (Siddiqui et al, 2004), and less than 70% of its slum dwellers have access to safe drinking water (Chowdhury, 1999). As a result of a severe lack of access to safe drinking water in these areas, residents experience an unsanitary lifestyle and suffer from increased health risks. Most of the municipalities and service agencies are unable to cope with the pressures of providing basic services to this expanding population; due to limited resources and an excessive demand for water within the service area. As a result Dhaka s urban poor have very little involvement with utility services (Podymow et al, 2010). Water related diseases are responsible for 24% of all deaths and gastroenteritis and diarrheal diseases kill 110,000 children below the age of five every year (Water Aid, 2011). This study explored drinking and non-drinking water sources of various socioeconomic groups and co-related it with socio-economic aspect. This study also evaluated consumers satisfaction regarding drinking water quality. This study identified various household level purification technique and their corresponding users. Effort has been made to collect relevant data from the concerned study groups by conducting questionnaire survey and field inspection of sources of non-drinking and drinking water. 2. METHODOLOGY A simple flow diagram of methodology is shown in Figure 1.

2 2 nd International Conference on Civil Engineering for Sustainable Development (ICCESD-2014) Collection of water borne diseases related data from secondary sources Identification of most vulnerable areas Categorization of study areas Conduct Water Use Questionnaire Survey on water consumption. Identification of existing Household level Purification Technique Trend Figure 1: A flow diagram of methodology. 2.1 Basis of Selection of Study Areas Study areas were selected based on following criteria- Socio-economic condition. Vulnerability in terms of water quality (microbial). Amount of drinking water consumption. Sensitivity Socio-economic condition Socio-economic aspect of user is an important factor for the assessment of drinking water source and purification method. The selection of source of drinking water and purification method is greatly influenced by user s Income. Perception regarding health impact of using contaminated water. Willingness to pay for drinking water Vulnerability in terms of water quality (microbial) The areas of Dhaka city where people are most vulnerable to water-borne diseases were selected based on International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (ICDDR,B) report Amount of drinking water consumption Amount of water consumed for drinking purpose varies from group to group. This amount depends on- Number of member of the group: A group having more members apparently consume more water than a small group. Water Consumption period. In this study, study areas were grouped into three categories depending on the amount of drinking water consumption as found in field survey: Low: Amount of drinking water consumption is less than 50 lpd. Medium: Amount of drinking water consumption is greater than 50 lpd but less than 500 lpd. High: Amount of drinking water consumption is greater than 500 lpd. Classification of study group based on drinking water consumption is shown in Table 1. Table 1: Classification of study group based on drinking water consumption No. of sample Remarks Low 29 All of Residential settled and slum areas were in this group. Medium 5 All of offices were in this group. High 18 All of schools, colleges, hospitals and markets were in this group. 2

3 2.1.4 Sensitivity 2 nd International Conference on Civil Engineering for Sustainable Development (ICCESD-2014) Here the term sensitivity refers to the degree of health impact on a group caused by drinking water quality. According to sensitivity, study areas were classified into two categories- Low Sensitive Group: Residential areas (both settled & slum) High sensitive Group: School/College, Hospital etc. 3. DATA ANALYSIS 3.1 Non-Drinking Water Sources for Dhaka City This study has revealed that city dwellers use mainly two types of water sources for household purpose: DWASA (Deep Tube Well ) DWASA (Piped Supply) Only a few households were found using rain water. Figure 2 represents a distribution of non-drinking water sources of the study area. This study revealed that about 60% of respondents were satisfied regarding the quality of non-drinking water. Figure 2: Non-drinking Water Source title 3.2 Sources of Drinking Water for Dhaka City Five types of sources are used for drinking purpose in this city as per this study: Bottled Water DWASA (Deep Tube Well) DWASA(Piped Supply) Water Jar with Dispenser Stored Rain Water Figure 3 presents a bar diagram of area wise distribution of various sources of drinking water of the study sample. From this figure it is clear that the commercial sectors like offices and markets are entirely dependent on private sector initiated water jar with dispenser for drinking purpose. On the other hand slum and residential settled areas fully depend on DWASA initiated pipe supply or deep tube well. 3

4 2 nd International Conference on Civil Engineering for Sustainable Development (ICCESD-2014) Figure 3:Group wise pattern of source of drinking water. 3.3 Group Wise Pattern of Household Level Purification Techniques In this study three types of disinfection systems are found to be used at user level such as boiling, filtration and combination of boiling and filtration Residential Settled This study groups mainly use boiling and a combination of boiling and filtration as purification system. Figure 4 manifests the proportion of various purification systems used by this study group. Figure 4: Proportion of purification systems currently used by consumers of Residential Settled Areas. 4

5 3.3.2 Slum 2 nd International Conference on Civil Engineering for Sustainable Development (ICCESD-2014) This group is considered as the most vulnerable for water borne diseases. This group can be classified as- (Reference Section 2.1) Low Income Group Low water consumption Group Low sensitive Group Figure 5 shows that only 11% users use filtration for disinfecting drinking water and rest 89% use no form of purification system. Compared to the Residential Settled areas in slum areas people are less likely to use purification method School/College Figure 5: Proportion of purification systems currently used by consumers of Slum Areas This group is sensitive from the view point of water consumption as a large number of people is served simultaneously at these institutions and more importantly most of the consumers of this groups are children or age below 18 years. For this reason this group draws special attention in the assessment of drinking water quality. Figure 6 indicates that about 72% school and college of the study sample do not use any form of purification system Market Figure 6: Proportion of purification systems currently used in schools and colleges. From questionnaire surveys conducted during this study it was revealed that all of the shop owners and their workers of market places rely on water jar with dispenser for drinking purpose in the study areas. These people are hardly conscious about the quality of the drinking water and according to this study 33% of them do not use any purification system while rest 67% use filtration technique. 5

6 3.3.5 Restaurant 2 nd International Conference on Civil Engineering for Sustainable Development (ICCESD-2014) Restaurants are highly sensitive from the perspective of drinking water quality due to involvement of many people. All of the restaurants considered in this study were found using filtration as their purification system Office Offices of various banks and private firms are considered in this study. Employees usually work in these places for eight hours or more. So, the quality of drinking water of these places exerts an important dimension on the health of employees. This study identified that all of the offices considered in this study were reported to use Water Jar with dispensar as drinking water source in most cases (80%) without implementing any purification techniques. Following Figure 7 shows the trend of using various purification techniques in offices. Figure 7: Proportion of purification systems currently used by consumers of Offices Hospitals Both private and public hospitals were taken account in this study.this study area is highly sensitive from the drinking water point of view as a large number of vulnerable patients are involved in this study groups. In some cases patients use bottled water specially for public hospitals and in other cases patients use water supplied by the hospital authority for drinking purpose. This study reveals that 80%hospitals use filtration for sterilization (Figure-8). Figure 8: Proportion of purification systems currently used in Hospitals. 4. CONCLUSIONS From the group wise pattern of drinking water source, it was apparent that offices and markets were fully dependent on private sector that promoted water jar with dispensar but dwellers of residential settled and slum 6

7 2 nd International Conference on Civil Engineering for Sustainable Development (ICCESD-2014) areas mainly used government initiated DWASA supplied water as their drinking water source. As per finding of this study, about 19 % people used both boiling and filter machine,14% people used only boiling and 28% people used only filter machine and 39% people used no purification method at user s end. So it is noticeable that a large portion of population of the study areas were not using any sort of purification techniques. This fact was more applicable for the slum dwellers as this study found that 89% of them did not use any form of purification techniques. As a result they are more vulnerable to water-borne diseases. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The authors are very grateful to the Civil Engineering Department, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) for providing all the necessary supports and other facilities like rich library throughout this whole work. The authors wish to express their thanks to Maharam Dakua for his timely and valuable suggestion REFERENCES Ahmed, M.F.and Rahman, M.M. (2000). Water Supply and Sanitation Rural and Low Income Urban Communities. International Training Network (ITN) Centre, BUET. Alam, M.J. (2007). Water Quality Tests and Behavioral Factors of Child Diarrhoea in Dhaka slums. BRAC University Journal, Vol. IV(1), Chowdhury, N. T. (1999). Willingness to Pay for Water in Dhaka Slum: A Contingent Valuation Study. IUCN. Islam, M.R.(1999) Drinking Water Quality and Sanitation Condition of Flood Shelters in Dhaka City, M.Sc. thesis, Department of Civil Engineering, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET). McGhee, T.J.(1991). Water Supply and Sewerage. McGraw-Hill, Inc, New York, USA. Peavy,H.S.,Rowe,R.D.and Tchobanoglous,G.(1985). Environmental Engineering. McGraw-Hill, Inc, New York, USA. Podymow, T., Turnbull, J., Islam, M.A. and Ahmed M. (2010). Health and Social condition of Dhaka Slums, Siddiqui, K., Ghosh A, Bhowmik S. K., Siddiqi S., Mitra M., Kapuria S., Ranjan N., and Ahmed J. (2004) Megacity Governance in South Asia: A Comparative Study. University Press Limited, Dhaka, Bangladesh. Water Aid in Bangladesh (July 2011). Bangladesh Country Strategy Plan: , Banani, Dhaka, Bangladesh. WHO (2007). Guidelines for Drinking-water Quality. Report of World Health Organization, World Health Organization, Switzerland. 7