Arsenic contamination affects more than 100 million people in more than 20 countries around the world. In Bangladesh, approximately one third of the country’s population of 146 million people is drinking ground water from shallow tube wells containing 10 to 50 times the amount of arsenic that is considered safe.

An estimated 77 million people in Bangladesh have been exposed to toxic arsenic levels in their drinking water since the 1970’s. More than 20 percent of the deaths in Bangladesh were caused by arsenic exposure from contaminated drinking water. Arsenic is toxic to the liver, skin, kidneys and cardiovascular system, and can cause certain kinds of cancer.

The World Health Organization

The Bangladesh Project identifies, develops and supports micro drinking water businesses owned and operated by local entrepeneurs that provide affordable drinking water to their communities. The focus is on the rural and peri-urban areas of Bangladesh where there are serious arsenic contamination and salinity problems with existing tube wells.

Dr. Phil Rolchigo, Vice President of Technology at Pentair

By setting up drinking water microenterprises that can operate financially independent businesses, the project intends to prove that Bangladesh’s rural residents will be willing to pay for arsenic-free water.

The Flow Through Capacitor (FTC), an innovative, low-cost and environmentally friendly deionization technology, was selected as the most effective option for treating arsenic contaminated water. FTC based systems produce drinking water by removing contaminating ions from the water. Depending on the quality of the raw water. FTC can meet WHO and Bangladesh standards. It is a unique desalination technology for brackish water treatment and thus far the only technology that can eliminate most of the major contaminants present in the groundwater of Bangladesh.

Project Safewater's goals in Bangladesh are:

  • To prove that micro drinking water businesses can be run as commercial businesses
  • To prove that rural residents will accept the concept of purchasing arsenic free water

As the project develops, formal results will be presented. The following is based on our current implementation rate:

The Ecological Management Foundation (EMF) is dedicated to improving access to clean drinking water and sanitation facilities in developing countries.