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Monitoring bacterial contamination of piped water supply in rural coastal Bangladesh

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Abstract

Safe drinking water is scarce in southwest coastal Bangladesh because of unavailability of fresh water. Given the high salinity of both groundwater and surface water in this area, harvested rainwater and rain-fed pond water became the main sources of drinking water. Both the government and non-government organizations have recently introduced pipe water supply in the rural coastal areas to ensure safe drinking water. We assessed the bacteriological quality of water at different points along the piped water distribution system (i.e., the source, treatment plant, household taps, street hydrants, and household storage containers) of Mongla municipality under Mongla Upazila in Bagerhat district. Water samples were collected at 2-month interval from May 2014 to March 2015. Median E. coli and total coliform counts at source, treatment plant, household taps, street hydrants, and household storage containers were respectively 225, 4, 7, 7, and 15 cfu/100 ml and 42,000, 545, 5000, 6150, and 18,800 cfu/100 ml. Concentrations of both of the indicator bacteria reduced after treatment, although it did not satisfy the WHO drinking water standards. However, re-contamination in distribution systems and household storage containers indicate improper maintenance of distribution system and lack of personal hygiene.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to express our sincere gratitude to the authority of Department of Public Health and Engineering (DPHE) of Bangladesh and the field officers of the Water Supply and Environmental Sanitation Project under this department for their cooperation by providing relevant information and support during the study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Environmental Science Discipline, Khulna University, Khulna, Bangladesh

    Md. Sabbir Ahsan, Md. Ali Akber, Md. Atikul Islam & Md. Pervez Kabir

  2. Department of Building Engineering and Construction Management, Khulna University of Engineering and Technology, Khulna, Bangladesh

    Md. Ikramul Hoque

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  1. Md. Sabbir Ahsan
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  3. Md. Atikul Islam
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Correspondence to Md. Atikul Islam.

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Ahsan, M.S., Akber, M.A., Islam, M.A. et al. Monitoring bacterial contamination of piped water supply in rural coastal Bangladesh. Environ Monit Assess 189, 597 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-017-6316-5

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