Water- A Vital Resource For Life

According to the biologists, all life came from the sea that means water. We must accept that we are living on this planet just because of the blessing of water. Till the date from the beginning of civilization, human beings have been using water for various purposes like drinking, bathing, watering animals and irrigating lands. However, this limited resource which means the source of life under the threat from the population, mainly generated by unconditional human factors. The fact that approximately 71 percent of the earth's total surface is covered with water and the matter to think that only 2.5 percent of this amount can be considered as fresh water usable by human beings. We are the people from the small country like Bangladesh is also rethink to use the fresh water for our betterment.

At present, according to Food and Agriculture Organization, two-thirds of the world's population is experiencing water scarcity and 1.6 billion people are facing economic water shortage. And Bangladesh is not out of that portion. Recently study found that 21 of the world's 37 largest aquifers around the world have crossed their sustainability limit points in using fresh water that surely indicating us that the condition of water stress and scarcity will be worsened day by day in near future. It’s the high time to be careful using water along with not polluting the fresh usable water available in the planet. Scientists expect that almost 1.8 billion people along with the people of Bangladesh living in various regions all over the world may face absolute water scarcity by 2025.

Let’s look into the situation of Bangladesh, one of the most densely populated countries of the world has plentiful water sources, having an abundance of water with around 24 thousand kilometers of rivers flowing through its fertile land. But to ensure and to provide water safe enough for everyone or drinking, washing their hands and using for daily life is becoming a complex national problem. In our country natural calamities like floods, cyclones, earthquakes and droughts are all common, causing devastating upheaval to people's lives. Besides, both developing clean water and ensuring water supply are extremely difficult and not only climate change also human activities are only making that harder.

In Bangladesh, finding safe drinking water is a daily quest for the most modest populations. Pure water shortages are now affecting over 40 percent of the world's total population and Bangladesh is no exception. The capital, Dhaka along with Chittagong are facing a serious pure water supply crisis, though the presence of five rivers and several canals and lakes. Demand from the population and the most cities rapidly growth of using fresh water are placing even more pressure on its limited fresh water resources.

According to the past data, a clear idea that came out in 1993, the source of drinking water for 97% of the rural population and a significant share of the urban population, was contaminated with arsenic in the country's groundwater. Since arsenic was found in Bangladeshi groundwater in 1993, the share of population with access to safe drinking water had been go under downward slope. However, in 2004, a very high level for a low-income country which had been achieved through the construction of hand pumps with the support of external donors around 98 percent of the population had got access to safe water supply.  According to the UNICEF and the WHO, access to an improved source of water supply increased to 81% in 2010. But in 2015, there were still approximately 21 million people faced lacking access to "Improved Water" or “Fresh Drinking Water”.

At present, access is broken down to use uncontaminated water as follows: 23% piped inside dwelling, 8% piped outside dwelling, 68% tube wells in urban areas. In rural areas the breakdown is less than 0.6% piped inside and outside dwelling, 96% tube wells, 1% dug wells, more than 2% ponds, lakes and rivers. And these are surely not meeting the demand of pure water supply. So with a staggering 60% of the population in Bangladesh has to endure unsafe drinking water that leads the nation is in danger. But all the sources are being polluted continuously day by day. Both surface water and groundwater sources are being polluted with different contaminants. As most of the population and other species use these water sources, especially groundwater sources which contain a large amount of arsenic, not disposable substances throughout the country and increases health risk regarding consuming water is very high.

As a result, the govt. is establishing new plan with the help of BIWTA and WASA for the betterment of the people and also trying to upgrade the infrastructure to capture rainwater and turn access into safe drinking water. New arsenic treatment technologies are need to be applied by the BCSIR to minimize the effect. However, in order to make a significant impact, we need to be more careful not polluting both surface and ground water. For that reasons, we need to have a clear understanding about the sources of fresh water, the sources of water pollution, what are the Water-borne Diseases and some precautions that can help us to prevent these waterborne disease. Let’s look into these topics:

Sources of fresh water:

As like as the third world country, Bangladesh, one of the most over-populated countries, is also facing acute water contamination along with scarcity of pure water. The standard of water is always questionable though approximately 97% of the total population has access to get water. It’s known to all that Bangladesh is a riparian country which consists of more than 230 large and small rivers across the country. Actually surface water, groundwater and rainwater are the main sources of water in Bangladesh. Huge amount of surface water discharges through The Ganges, the Brahmaputra and the Meghna in Bangladesh in which a part of water enters into ground to form groundwater. Another source of water, Bangladesh signed “The Ganges Water Sharing Treaty” with India in 1996, which allows to receive a minimum amount of 35 thousand cubic feet per second during the dry season in Bangladesh.

Sources of water pollution:

Both natural and anthropogenic sources can pollute water in many ways. In our country, most of the water sources, mainly surface water bodies are being polluted just because of the man-made problems, industrial growth and urbanization. In current timeframe, the main causes of surface water pollution are sewage, solid waste, industrial waste, plastics and effluents. Groundwater is devastating highly because of arsenic pollution in case of Bangladesh and an estimation comes up showing around 35000000 to 77000000 people of this country has been chronically exposed to arsenic in their drinking water till the date which is very alarming. During the summer monsoon, Bangladesh can easily get excess of surface water and also in the end of the dry season mainly in April and May, it fells the relative scarcity every year.

Water-borne Disease:

Water which is considered as a life giving liquid can also be a life taking lethal fluid. Due to unhygienic and poor quality of water approximately 3.1 percent of deaths are happening yearly in this universe. Around 80 percent of diseases worldwide are waterborne, the WHO claims. It’s alarmingly in Bangladesh that groundwater in one-third of the many districts is seemed to be unsafe for drinking because it contains dangerous levels of fluoride, iron, salinity and arsenic, which are injurious to human health. The most common category of water-borne diseases is represented by Diarrhoea/Cholerae, Typhoid, Dysentery, Meningitis, Guinea-worm disease, Hepatitis and Polio.

Some precautions that can help us to prevent waterborne disease are:

• By boiling water to ensure the water is free from sand and silt.
• By filtering the water to get rid of visible dirt harmful for health.
• By adding antiseptic liquid while bathing or washing face.
• By washing hands with soap after using the toilet and before preparing food.
• By avoiding stale cooked and non-refrigerated food kept exposed outside for long period.
• By taking vaccinations for immunization against Typhoid, Hepatitis, Polio, etc.

In recent years, some investigation claims that most of the water bodies in Bangladesh are being polluted with several contaminants which are not good for human consumption without proper treatment. Besides the most prospective menace for the people of Bangladesh are heavy metal contamination, pesticide pollution of surface water. Bacteriological pollution which causes threats to both urban and rural people is also a great source of surface water. Along with the heavy metals, Arsenic is somehow found in groundwater all over the country at an alarming rate. The main prompt of water pollution in Bangladesh are  lack of proper monitoring, lack of laws implementation, lack of adequate human resources as well as lack of modern treatment plants and water supply systems, poor awareness and lack of proper education about water use and safety. But we can tackle all the problems and ensure clean water and good hygiene which a normal part of daily life for everyone in Bangladesh.