“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

A Sri Lankan woman receives a ceramic water filter kit from a Red Cross worker. Zach Abraham/American Red Cross

“For thousands of Sri Lankans without easy access to potable water, a low-tech filter has provided them with a convenient source of safe water, saving on fuel costs and cutting disease.

The water filter was first mass-produced in Nicaragua and used in emergency relief operations. It is essentially a clay pot fortified with ground paddy husk and coated with colloidal silver that strains out virtually all harmful bacteria and parasites.

The American Red Cross (ARC) began production of the clay filter in Sri Lanka in January 2007 and has distributed some 10,000 units so far, principally to survivors of the December 2004 tsunami that devastated 13 of the island’s 25 districts”.

Read more: IRIN, 01 Jul 2008

Denmark will provide US$ 4.8 million for a new two and half year rural water supply project in the three districts of Rajshahi, Chapainawabgonj and Naogaon in in the northwestern region of Bangladesh. Some 200 piped rural water supply schemes will be constructed, serving around 400,000 people.

The project will be financed through the HYSAWA Fund and implemented by the Barind Multi-purpose Development Authority (BMDA)

Read more: The News Statesman, 03 Jul 2008

Exactly one month behind schedule, Health Minister P K Sreemathy launched the networking for a national campaign titled WASH, abbreviation for Water, Sanitation and Hygiene. The programme, the launch of which had to be postponed due to a hartal [strike] on World Environment Day, is to be carried out under the auspices of the Kerala State Council for Science Technology and Environment (KSCSTE).

[...]

In the first phase of the programme, KSCSTE will give scientific inputs to anganwadi [kindergarten] teachers on the best practices with respect to sanitation and hygiene and conservation of water bodies.

[...]

As part of WASH, sanitation surveys will be conducted around water sources and a data network of these results will be created.

Source: Newindpress.com , 6 Jul 2008

Impact Nations is a religious Canadian charity that has set up a virtual podium to raise funds for development projects.

‘Every mission of Impact Nations is accomplished through short-term trips called “Journeys of Compassion” and long-term “Projects” ‘.

Impact Nations’s clean water initiative is providing bio-sand filters for water projects in India and the Philippines.

“In one recent project, Impact Nations has come forward to the aid of the people of Mindanao, the easternmost island in the Philippines; where the people of the Typhoon Fengshen hit island are dying from unclean water consumption. The Impact Nations Team has a proposed plan to provide 6 water filters per day at the cost of USD 40 per unit. Each filter provides clean water for 35 people; thus reaching out clean water to 1260. Presently, catering to 7,000 people of 1,000 families, Impact Nations awaits funds to respond to the plight of the people of Mindanao”. See news about the Philippines project here.

Source: Live PR, 8 Jul 2008

“Ten-year-old Sweeta still remembers the most painful moments of her life when a bulky 35-year-old man raped her in his office in the town of Sheberghan, Jowzjan Province, in northern Afghanistan.

At around 10am on 31 January 2008 a vehicle with the markings and number plate of the Afghan National Army (ANA) stopped near a water-point where Sweeta was filling her buckets, according to the Afghanistan Human Right Organisation (AHRO).

“The three men in the car grabbed her and drove to an army barracks where the commander raped her in his office,” said Lal Gul Lal, chairman of AHRO, who has provided legal support to the victim’s family”.

Read more: IRIN, 16 Jun 2008

On 7 July 2008, CNN (and several other media) reported about the town of Musiri in Tamil Nadu, that “has hit upon a unique idea to teach its residents proper hygiene: pay them money each time they use the toilet. Users can make up to $0.14 a month to relieve themselves in a specially constructed toilet”. [...] “The government-backed program serves two purpose: It encourages people to discard age-old practices of urinating and defecating in the open, leading to diseases. And the waste product goes into research to test their effectiveness as fertilizers”.

The scheme started on the festive day of Pongal (Tamil harvest festival) on 15 January 2008. Users are paid ten paise per visit to the Ecosan Community Compost Toilet (ECCT) in Saliyar Street in Musiri.  The payment is made, on a monthly basis, to all card-holders who use the ECCT. Said to be the first ECCT in the country, it was officially opened by the Society for Community Organisation and Peoples Education (SCOPE) in April 2006.

The collected urine is being used as bio-fertilizer as part of a two-year research project conducted by the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU) under an MoU with SCOPE and Rs 400,000 funding from the Dutch NGO WASTE.

According to SCOPE, “the number of users of the toilet has gone up by 90 per day with the introduction of the scheme and daily about 200 persons are using the toilet”.

(…) According to a World Bank report, Dhaka is the fastest expanding city in the world. It has now got nearly 1.2 crore people with approximately 3-4 lakh poor joining it every year. The city’s population is apprehended to hit 2 crore in 2020, making it the World’s third largest city. (…)

Unfortunately, Dhaka cannot cope with its growing population. A significant portion or the city’s populace lives in slums. These people have virtually no access to the city’s sanitation and sewerage facilities. Among 1,925 slums mentioned in the report, there is only one public toilet each in only 43 slums. (….)

Read more: The New Nation, 30 Jun 2008

Sulabh International has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Punjab government regarding a strategic tie-up for a statewide hygiene programme.

Sulabh would join up the state government initially for the construction of public & private hygiene units, including low flush toilets for the rural and the urban poor in three districts, focusing on the Kandi areas of Hoshiarpur, the waterlogged areas of Mukatsar and the border belt of Tarn Taran districts. These however would be pilot projects for ultimately bringing the entire state with in the ambit of the project.

Read more: Punjab Newsline, 26 Jun 2008 ; Govt of Punjab, 26 Jun 2008

Beijing has dispatched 8,000 personnel for a mass toilet maintenance staff, and each will be responsible for a specific restroom in the city during the Olympics.

Reuters reports that the staff is trained in hygiene standards, knowledge of the Olympics and basic English expressions. (…)

Read more: By Amada L. Pentler, nydailynews.com, 24 Jun 2008