“Millions of people in Bangladesh continue to drink water from arsenic-contaminated tube wells, the most common source of drinking water in the country, according to health specialists.
A 2001 survey by the British Geological Survey estimated that more than 50 million people in Bangladesh drank water from such wells – that figure is closer to 100 million now, says Mohammad Quamaruzzaman of Dhaka Community Hospital”.
[...]
So far only half of the 10 million tubewells in Bangladesh have been tested for arsenic, according to UNICEF water and sanitation specialist, Rick Johnston. “The only way to test so many wells in such a short time is through field testing kits”, Johnston said. For this purpose UNICEF Bangladesh has purchased 50 digital “arsenators” to be used in collaboration with the government and NGO partners. Besides delivering fast results, this portable field testing kit is seen to be accurate, easy to use, and environmentally friendly.
Source: IRIN, 9 Jul 2008
0 responses so far ↓
There are no comments yet...Kick things off by filling out the form below.