Arsenic Education and Remediation in Bangladesh - ACS Publications

Chapter 3

Arsenic Education and Remediation in Bangladesh Downloaded by UNIV OF FLORIDA on November 17, 2017 | http://pubs.acs.org Publication Date (Web): October 23, 2017 | doi: 10.1021/bk-2017-1267.ch003

Ray Kronquist* and Shahena Begum* Chemists Without Borders

http://www.chemistswithoutborders.org/ *E-mails:

[email protected] (R.K.); [email protected] (S.B.).

This chapter describes a project of Chemists Without Borders (CWB) to combat the arsenic contamination problem in Bangladesh. The project was a number of years in the planning stage as mentioned in the Chapter 2. This chapter describes the work that started in September 2014 carried out by five interns in Bangladesh working under the direction of Dr. Ray Kronquist, living in California. The goal of the initial project was to educate high school students on the hazards of arsenic in drinking water, to train the students on how to measure arsenic concentration in water from community wells near the schools, and the collection of data from schools by the interns. This first phase of the project lasted 16 weeks, and of all the schools visited, two were found to have very high (250 ppb) concentrations of arsenic in the water from their school wells. The second phase of the project was an attempt to remediate these two wells, and this involved discussions with many individuals and organizations inside and outside Bangladesh. It culminated with the commitment for funding the construction of two ring wells by two Rotary Clubs to replace the contaminated wells. The third phase of the project was the actual construction of the wells. We are now in the fourth phase of the project which is a strategy to provide clean drinking water to all the 400,000 residents of one upazila (county) in Bangladesh by the end of 2018. The strategy involves getting clean water to all 38 high schools and colleges in the upazila and then using the high schools as distribution hubs to deliver clean water to homes in each high school district. We will test all the community © 2017 American Chemical Society Grosse; Mobilizing Chemistry Expertise To Solve Humanitarian Problems Volume 1 ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2017.

wells and identify the ones that are contaminated with arsenic. Home delivery of drinking water from the high school will be offered to the residents who have been using the arsenic contaminated community wells. Our hope is that we will do this successfully and that this strategy can serve as a model for solving the arsenic contamination health problem nationwide in Bangladesh.

Downloaded by UNIV OF FLORIDA on November 17, 2017 | http://pubs.acs.org Publication Date (Web): October 23, 2017 | doi: 10.1021/bk-2017-1267.ch003

1. Introduction While the subject of this book is on mobilizing chemistry expertise to solve a variety of humanitarian problems, this chapter focuses specifically on resolution of the problem in Bangladesh of arsenic contamination of drinking water. However, since the team has developed a strategy of working through the high schools to address the arsenic problem, it believes that over the coming years, it will also be able to utilize its relationships with the high schools and their students to work on many other humanitarian problems in this developing country. Further, it is believed that Chemists Without Borders will be able to utilize many of the operating models developed for Bangladesh in other countries as well. This chapter describes the work done from 2014 through the first part of 2017 by Chemists Without Borders on the problem of arsenic contamination in drinking water in Bangladesh. Dr. Ray Kroniquist is the CWB project leader based in the United States and Shahena Begum, who started as an intern, is now the Program Manager for Bangladesh. Ray learned of Chemists Without Borders by then Executive Director, Ladan Artusy, in May of 2013. Ladan introduced Ray to Bego Gerber and Steve Chambreau, the co-founders of Chemists Without Borders. He was intrigued by their project to work on the problem of arsenic contamination of drinking water in Bangladesh, which had been in the planning stage at CWB for a number of years. Groundwater arsenic contamination in Bangladesh is reported to be the biggest arsenic calamity in the world in terms of the affected population (Talukdar, et al. 1998) (1). The government of Bangladesh has addressed it as a national disaster. The contamination has been termed as the greatest mass poisoning in human history (Smith, et al., 2000) (2). In the spring of 2014, Amber Wise, a chemistry professor at Chicago State University and a member of CWB, was planning a trip to Bangladesh. Amber had previously spent a year at the Asian University for Women (AUW) in Chittagong, Bangladesh teaching chemistry and setting up a chemistry department. Steve arranged with Amber for her to visit a couple of high schools near Chittagong and to investigate the possibility of recruiting interns from AUW to work on the project. Amber did this, and she asked the Career Development Center at AUW to publish a job description for an internship and to circulate it among their students and graduates. As a result, we received seven applications. Ray began leading the project at this point and he interviewed the applicants via Skype videoconferencing. The objective was to create a team in Bangladesh which would give presentations at high schools, educate the students on the hazards of 30 Grosse; Mobilizing Chemistry Expertise To Solve Humanitarian Problems Volume 1 ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2017.


arsenic in drinking water, and train them on using a test kit to measure the arsenic concentration at community wells near the school. Then, after carrying out this part of the project to evaluate how helpful our efforts were, we decided that this phase of the project should last 16 weeks. Appendix 1 provides information about the project leaders and a description of each intern originally hired. Among the five interns, few had knowledge about arsenic in water. They needed to learn how to test for arsenic in water with the Hach test kit. The Hach Test Kit is manufactured by the Hach Company in Loveland, Colorado, USA. The Model EZ Arsenic High Range Test Kit was used in all measurements. The addition of chemicals to a water sample containing arsenic causes arsenic to be released in a gas form. The gas contacts the test strip, which undergoes a color change. The concentration of arsenic in the sample is related to the extent of the color change, so observation of the color constitutes a measurement of the arsenic concentration. The interns were also sent a video on using the Hach Test Kit prepared by groups of college students and their teachers in the U.S. Through Ray’s guidance and materials provided from the U.S. Chemists Without Borders organization, the interns were trained sufficiently to give their presentations to the Bangladesh high school students. Figure 1 shows the interns in Bangladesh who started in September of 2014 working on the project:

Figure 1. CWB Arsenic Education Project Interns, Monira, Taslima, Nishat, Ano and Shahena (L-R), Sept. 2014. 31 Grosse; Mobilizing Chemistry Expertise To Solve Humanitarian Problems Volume 1 ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2017.

2. Beginning the Project Including Challenges Faced This section describes how the project started, including the obstacles that the interns encountered. The authors consider it instructive to cover what may seem like mundane issues, but the handling of these obstacles in a project such as this often makes the difference between a successful project and a failed project. Here are the interns’ experiences as they started the project:


2.1. Learning about the Arsenic Issue At beginning of the project, local knowledge about arsenic was limited. The five AUW graduates were from different major backgrounds. However, Ray sent many documents on arsenic and explained the project very clearly. During the first 6 weeks of the internship, all were trained on arsenic contamination history, testing and remediation methods and the organization of the project.

2.2. Preparing for Presentations to Schools With input from the AUW IT department, a projector was purchased. During the first few weeks, additional equipment was acquired for communicating and for the high school visits. A projector is one of the most important pieces of equipment needed because the interns expected large groups of students to attend the presentations on the health hazards of arsenic. The projector enabled them to present the slides to a large audience.

2.3. Initiating Contact with Area High Schools At the beginning of the project the interns had a list of hundreds of high schools in the Chittagong area that was downloaded from a government website. The interns were referred to that website by Professor Amber Wise (Former AUW professor). There were a number of errors of headmasters’ names and phone numbers, and the interns had to make a number of calls to reach the right persons. At first it was difficult to establish CWB’s credibility, since it was a new organization in Bangladesh. However, over time the interns were successful in persuading the headmasters that they had something valuable to present to the students, and appointments were made to give presentations to the high school students on the health hazards of arsenic. Logistical problems: Most of the schools do not have any projectors or computers. Some schools do not even have electricity. In addition, the interns took local motor vehicles called CNGs, rickshaws and sometimes local buses for transportation. Directions from each school headmaster over the phone were generally not enough to find the location in an unknown town. For example, even though communicating directly with the Panthichila School, Sitakunda headmaster, it took significant effort to reach the school. 32 Grosse; Mobilizing Chemistry Expertise To Solve Humanitarian Problems Volume 1 ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2017.


2.4. Presentations, Demonstration of the Hach Tests, and Volunteers The five interns visited the schools and delivered a PowerPoint presentation introducing CWB, the goal of the project and then discussed the hazards of having excess amounts of arsenic in the drinking water with the students (most in grades 8 to 10). The interns asked questions of the participating students about their knowledge of arsenic. The presentations were given in the native language (Bangla). The background of the arsenic problem in Bangladesh, symptoms and possible mitigation information were explained in detail to the students and teachers. It took around 45 to 60 minutes to explain all the information in the presentation. During the presentation the interns ensured a friendly environment in the classroom so that students felt comfortable to ask any question. Presentation slides are given in reference (7)

2.5. Demonstration on Measuring Arsenic Concentration The presenters taught the students how to measure arsenic concentration in water by showing them a hands-on demonstration using Hach Test Kits. Then, student who volunteered repeated the test procedure using the arsenic test kits. It was easy to get students to volunteer to make the arsenic measurements at wells in their communities. After the training of the high school students, the interns followed up with them on a weekly basis for 2 weeks as they made arsenic measurements of the local water sources.

2.6. Follow Up To Get Test Data on Neighboring Wells Test kits were given along with a sign-up sheet for the volunteers who wanted to measure the arsenic in their or their neighbors’ water source and a data sheet to enter the measured arsenic in those wells in ppb (parts per billion). Also, an instruction manual in Bangla which included the interns’ contact number was provided to assist the students. One teacher or volunteer student was assigned to keep the data and test kits with him or her. After 1 week the interns went back to the schools and collected both items from them.

2.7. Political Instability: Unsafe To Travel at Times During the first few months of 2015, Bangladesh suffered a political crisis. The two main parties held a controversial general election, and, during the aftermath, there were countrywide protests, traffic blockades, and petrol bombs were thrown at vehicles. Consequently, travel was not safe, and school visitations were delayed during this time period.

33 Grosse; Mobilizing Chemistry Expertise To Solve Humanitarian Problems Volume 1 ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2017.

3. Visit Results A summary of the results of these high school visits by the interns follows: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

High attendance (50 to 150 students) Lots of questions A dozen volunteers to test wells near each school 20-30 community wells tested at each school Two schools had high arsenic concentrations in their wells


The Indiegogo site in reference (8) contains details about the arsenic education project in Bangladesh. There are school visit reports since September 2014.

4. Cost of First Phase of Project Money was spent on Arsenic Education Project as follows: CWB money for the Bangladesh project has been used for interns’ stipends, expenses including transportation cost to schools, mobile bill, and internet bills. Total cost for the arsenic education project was $6500 during September to December, 2014. The interns visited six high schools in different areas of Chittagong including Chittagong Government Girl’s High School, UCEP High School, Kumira Residential School and College, Sitakunda Model High School, Teriail High School and ModdhomVaterkhil High School. The first high school visit was made on Oct. 16, 2014 and the last one was made on Nov. 13, 2014.

5. Strategy Change: Focus on Remediation of Sitakunda and Teriail Wells Instead of More High School Visits A result of the initial phase of this project was that high school students are enthusiastic participants in the program to educate the community about the health hazards of arsenic in drinking water and in taking measurements of the arsenic concentration. Unfortunately, of the six high schools, we found two high schools with very high arsenic concentrations. Using the Hach Test Kit, the interns measured the arsenic concentration in the water at both schools to be 250 ppb, which is 5 times more than the allowable level in Bangladesh. The schools that had high amounts of arsenic were Sitakunda high school and Teriail high school. In Sitakunda high school around 2500 people and in Teriail schools around 1500 people were drinking water from the arsenic contaminated tube wells. Our team in Bangladesh consulted with the local office of the Department of Public Health Engineering (DPHE), and they suggested a solution that they had used at many contaminated wells in this region. They explained as follows: In this region, there are three aquifers as you can see in Figure 2. 34 Grosse; Mobilizing Chemistry Expertise To Solve Humanitarian Problems Volume 1 ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2017.


Figure 2. Aquifer Structure at Sitakunda and Teriail High Schools. One aquifer is near the surface and is not contaminated with arsenic. Then there is a deeper aquifer that has some arsenic contamination and a deepest aquifer with the highest arsenic contamination. The tube wells that were currently being used were going down to one of the deeper aquifers. However, DPHE explained that a new shallow ring well could be dug at each high school location to get arsenic-free water from the first aquifer. It is important to understand that the arsenic contamination of the deeper aquifers is not in general from any industrial contamination but results from the fact that arsenic is one of the elements that occur naturally in the Earth’s crust. It is also important to understand that this arsenic contamination model is not valid in all geographic regions in Bangladesh or in other countries. There are regions where the aquifer nearest the surface is the one most contaminated with arsenic. The local DPHE engineers, however, drawing on their extensive experience in contracting wells in this region advised that the surface aquifer at our schools would be free of arsenic. At the end of this Stage 1 of the project, there were no funds in the original project budget for these two replacement wells. It was decided to suspend the arsenic awareness presentations, since it was not possible to correct the arsenic contamination problems we uncovered. It was decided instead to spend the time searching for funding and/or partners to resolve the arsenic contamination that was found at the two high schools. Accordingly, the plan was changed to 35 Grosse; Mobilizing Chemistry Expertise To Solve Humanitarian Problems Volume 1 ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2017.

target provision of safe drinking water in both schools by determining the best alternatives and replacing the contaminated tube wells with safe wells.


6. 2015 Work Seeking Partnerships and Funding Chemists Without Borders’ Bangladesh team built relationships with strategic and academic partners such as the Department of Public Health and Engineering (DPHE), Dhaka Community Hospital, Dhaka University, Dhaka Water and Sewer Authority (WASA), BRAC (Formerly Bangladesh Rural Action Committee), UNICEF, Water Aid Bangladesh, Chittagong University of Engineering and Technology (CUET) and Rotary Clubs. Here are some of the partners that were developed:

6.1. DPHE Engineer at Sitakunda DPHE (Department of Public Health Engineering) is one of the organizations that works to provide safe drinking water in Bangladesh. Their main focus of work is to identify arsenic in drinking water and provide mitigation/alternatives at the national level. Almost every upazila has a regional office of the DPHE to coordinate their work. The team was able to build a good relationship with them. Once the team identified an arsenic contaminated tube well, it contacted the regional DPHE office for determining the best solution based on the geographic location. Mr. Shah Alam is an assistant sub Engineer at Sitakunda who advised the team to set up a ring well in most areas. Since the team was not equipped with the mechanism of constructing ring wells, it needed to install the ring well through construction firms. The employees of these firms are trained by DPHE to build the well and they provide all the materials, labor and other logistic support to build the ring well.

6.2. Rotary Clubs The CWB Bangladesh team communicated with several Rotary clubs in Chittagong city, Bangladesh. One of the Rotary Clubs, Rotary Club of Khulshi, agreed to donate funds for replacing the contaminated well at Sitakunda High School with a safe ring well, which would provide arsenic free water. Additionally, Shallotte Rotary Club of North Carolina, USA funded a ring well for Teriail High School.

6.3. Schools Since plans changed for 2015, there were not as many school visits during this time. Presentations were given to the PSD School in Dhaka, Union Krishi School at Patia, Chittagong, and the Joypura School and College in Lakshimpur (9). 36 Grosse; Mobilizing Chemistry Expertise To Solve Humanitarian Problems Volume 1 ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2017.

Additionally, communication continued with Sitakunda High School, Teriail High School as well as follow up with PSD School, Joypura School, and Union Krishi School.

6.4. Asian University for Women (AUW) Interactions


The original five interns were graduates of Asian University for Women(AUW) and were recruited through a job posting in its Career Development Center. CWB set up a Memorandum of Understanding to assist with local funds transfer through the AUW Finance and CDC offices. AUW Professor Andrea Phillott was a co-coordinator and Dr. Harunur Rashid also partnered with CWB.

6.5. Collaboration with Arsenic Experts The CWB team consulted with experts from national and international organizations. Dr. Meera Smith (Public Health Specialist at University of California Berkeley) and Dr. Matin (Professor of Geology department, Dhaka University) gave advice on options for replacing the contaminated wells at Sitakunda and Teriail High Schools. Dr. Asif and Dr. Reaz at CUET (Chittagong University of Engineering and Technology, Chittagong, Bangladesh) ran tests for arsenic concentration in water in their laboratory at CUET.

6.6. Project Well Dr. Meera Smith with her husband, Allan Smith, are the founders of the organization named Project Well in India. Reference 10 gives details about Project Well. Project Well has dug around 300 wells in West Bengal, India, largely to replace arsenic contaminated wells. These wells are treated to kill any bacterial contamination in the water. So, Dr. Meera Smith gave the team good advice on the treatment of water sources and others issues related to replacing arsenic contaminated wells.

6.7. DPHE lab in Dhaka Our measurements of arsenic concentration with the Hach test kits were not as accurate as tests done on water samples in a laboratory. So we looked for laboratories where we could get more accurate arsenic measurements done The DPHE central laboratory is situated in Mohakhali, Dhaka. 54 parameters of water test are available at this lab. DPHE shared water quality parameters and costs are available on their website (11, 12).


However, there are some formalities to have water tests performed by the DPHE lab in Dhaka, such as:


1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

Come in person to pick up their approved container. Go back to the water source and take the sample in the approved container. Return to Dhaka and submit the sample in person. Get their form for payment and fill it out. Take the form in person to the bank to make payment for the tests. Return to the lab to show proof of payment and to leave the samples. Come back in person to pick up the test results (in 2 to 4 weeks).

There was no CWB team in Dhaka, so it was hard to complete all of these tasks. We were however able to get some tests run by asking some of our other partners in Dhaka for help with the logistics. 6.8. Paper Presentation at the 16th Asian Chemical Congress, Dhaka, by Shahena Begum The 16th Asian Chemical Congress was held at the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), Dhaka, Bangladesh, and organized by the Bangladesh Chemical Society. The inaugural ceremony held on March 16th, 2015 at Pan Pacific Sonargaon Hotel, Dhaka, Bangladesh. Mr. Amir Hossain Amu, MP, Honorable Minister, Ministry of Industries, Govt. of the Peoples Republic of Bangladesh was the chief guest in the ceremony. On the evening of the 19th, there was closing ceremony at Dhaka University, Dhaka, Bangladesh. Shahena Begum presented a paper entitled “Arsenic in Drinking Water: Promoting Awareness through Remediation and Measurement Projects for Students” The paper was included in the section of Environmental Chemistry and the paper was presented on 19th March, 2016. Many attendees appreciated the CWB project in Bangladesh and requested for us to continue in Bangladesh. 6.9. Chittagong University of Engineering and Technology Chittagong University of Engineering and Technology (CUET) contains the department Bureau of Research, Testing and Consultation (BRTC). They can test for 15 different metal analytes. While the CWB team was conducting the arsenic education program and measurements, it measured 250 ppb arsenic by using a Hach test kit in two wells at Sitakunda High School and Teriail School where 2500 and 1500 people respectively are drinking water from the arsenic contaminated tube wells. In order to confirm the presence of arsenic in those schools, we conducted more accurate lab-based tests on the 2 highest arsenic concentrations at CUET. They used the ASTEM (American Society for Testing and Materials) method for testing water in their lab. 38 Grosse; Mobilizing Chemistry Expertise To Solve Humanitarian Problems Volume 1 ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2017.

6.10. HOPE Foundation


As the name suggests - HOPE Foundation for Women and Children of Bangladesh - HOPE's mission is to serve women and children, especially newborns, in Bangladesh (13). The CWB team communicated with Ashley Pugh, representative from HOPE for Bangladesh. Ashley mentioned that the water in the area of the hospital has a high level of fecal matter with resulting water borne illnesses. She also mentioned a health training class for midwives that the hospital conducts. We discussed possible collaboration on Health Education and on remediation of contaminated water, but at this time (July 2017), we haven’t begun any formal project with HOPE.

6.11. Agami, Inc. Agami is a non-governmental organization that provides financial and other assistance to 20 schools in Bangladesh. Besides Agami’s financial help, they have started a number of innovative classes at these schools. CWB was asked by Agami to develop a course on health that goes beyond water quality to cover many other aspects of health for their students. More on this project is in reference (14). The CWB team members prepared a health project with nine lessons. The goal of this health education project is to create awareness about leading a healthy life for students and their family members. The lessons include topics on: Water Seeing the Doctor Nutrition and Food Exercise Hygiene Mental Health Meditation Sleep Conclusion The health courses were developed for both high school and elementary school students. With the collaboration of Agami, the CWB Bangladesh team taught health education courses at BSRM High School, Chittagong, Bangladesh in September 2016. There was significant positive feedback from students and teachers. As a result, Agami team members in Dhaka started teaching these health education courses in an elementary school in February 2017. Later on, these courses will be taught at four other high and elementary schools in Dhaka.


7. 2016 Work: Construction of Two Ring Wells 7.1. Construction of Ring Well at Sitakunda High School


In the Sitakunda region of Bangladesh, a ring well is a well-known option for safe drinking water free of arsenic. Ring wells, which bring up water from the aquifer nearest the surface, work in hilly, coastal, arsenic affected and declining water table areas. In these regions, this surface aquifer is usually free of arsenic. The well is lined with concrete rings as shown in Figure 3.

Figure 3. Construction of Ring Well at Sitakunda High School. A ring well is constructed by digging a shaft, generally manually and installing concrete rings, which prevent the dirt walls from collapsing. As the shaft is dug deeper, the rings drop down, and the next ring is placed at the top of the stack. Most of these wells are less than 30 feet deep. 40 Grosse; Mobilizing Chemistry Expertise To Solve Humanitarian Problems Volume 1 ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2017.


At Sitakunda High School, the selected a platform location for the ring well was found to be sanitary, far from potential pollutants and was approved by the DPHE. The ring well depth was 28 feet at Sitakunda High School. The ring well construction was completed in February 2016. At that time there was no problem with the well water, but after one month an odor problem was noticed. While many students were taking water from the ring well they noticed that there was a bad smell from the water. The DPHE Engineer at Sitakunda took water from the ring well and drank it. He also experienced the same smell from the water. He understood that it happened because gases evaporating from the water in the well did not have a way to escape into the atmosphere. He suggested that this problem could be solved by creating ventilation at the top of the well. So an escape path was created at the top of the well, and this solved the odor problem. Additionally, a filter must be installed to remove iron contamination from the well.

7.2. Construction of Ring Well at Teriail High School Ring well construction was completed in June 2016 at Teriail High School, Bangladesh with funding from Rotary Club Shallotte in North Carolina, USA. After the ring well was constructed, the water from the well was tested by the local DPHE engineer, and passed the tests. However, shortly after construction, sand was found in the water. Upon inspection, the DPHE engineer instructed that the well be deepened, so the sand could settle out, and the problem was solved. The students now have drinking water free of arsenic from this ring well. As of July, 2017, we are testing for other potential contaminants. Those tests are so far inconclusive, but we may install filters to the well.

8. 2017 Work and Future Plans This section describes a strategy going forward that we think could be expanded to solve the arsenic contamination problem nationwide in Bangladesh. This strategy represents what we plan to do through the end of 2018, modifying it as new information and ideas appear. There are ten components to this strategy as described below.

Strategy Component #1: Concentrate on Getting Clean Water to High Schools There are about 7000 high schools in Bangladesh vs about 1,000,000 community wells. Because the number of high schools is so much less than the total number of community wells, it is much less expensive to concentrate on providing clean water to the high schools.


Strategy Component #2: Deliver Clean Water from the High Schools to the Homes Near the Schools


This is a business model developed by Drinkwell Systems. Drinkwell has set up water delivery entrepreneurs at dozens of locations in India and at least one in Bangladesh. The entrepreneurs deliver water to the homes using a very simple vehicle as shown in Figure 4.

Figure 4. Delivery of Water to the Homes by Drinkwell Systems. The residents pay a small fee for the service which covers the costs of the delivery person’s salary and the use of the delivery vehicle. We propose to follow this business model to provide clean water eventually to all the residents of each high school district who normally would use water from contaminated community wells. The high schools serve as water distribution hubs.

Strategy Component #3: Focus on Sitakunda Upazila for Next Two Years To Validate the Model Bangladesh is divided into districts (like U.S. states), and the districts are divided in upazilas (like U.S. counties). Sitakunda Upazila is located in Chittagong District to the north of the city of Chittagong. The main road between Chittagong and Dhaka runs through Sitakunda Upazila. A map of Sitakunda Upazila is shown in Figure 5. Here are some key parameters of Sitakunda Upazila: 38 high schools and colleges, 400,000 residents, 175 square miles. With only 38 high schools and colleges, Sitakunda Upazila is small enough that we think our team can visit all the schools, test their wells, replace the contaminated wells and set up delivery services for drinking water to all the homes that need clean water for drinking in the neighborhood of each school by the end of 2018. At the end of March 2017, we had visited over half of the schools and done a lot of the work to evaluate arsenic testing resources and the various remediation options. Also, with 400,000 residents, Sitakunda is big enough to serve as a template for this business model to replicate across the country if our project is successful there. 42 Grosse; Mobilizing Chemistry Expertise To Solve Humanitarian Problems Volume 1 ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2017.


Figure 5. Map of Sitakunda Upazila. Strategy Component #4: Building a Team We’ve put together a team of people with a variety of skills to execute our strategy: -

-

A team of experts to help make technical decisions. These are professional people, most with Ph.D. degrees and with experience with arsenic contamination. University interns who work with the high schools. High school student interns who will educate family members and neighbors about arsenic. We have a Program Manager for Bangladesh to supervise the interns and high school students. Over the next year and a half, the size of the team will grow as the size of the project expands and we provide water service to more people.

Strategy Component #5: Select Water Measurement Method Having accurate measurements of arsenic and other contaminants in water is critical to making the right decisions in the project. Here are some of the test kits and labs that we are evaluating and using: Test kits: − Hach Kit for arsenic (good for a rough test for arsenic) 43 Grosse; Mobilizing Chemistry Expertise To Solve Humanitarian Problems Volume 1 ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2017.

− Aquagenx kit for e-coli − 3M kit for e-coli


Laboratories: (They provide more accurate test results for arsenic and other contaminants) − DPHE in Dhaka − Bangladesh Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (BCSIR) in Chittagong We plan to test each of the community wells in Sitakunda Upazila for arsenic, starting with Teriail High School District. We will test first with the Hach Test Kit, since this is the least expensive testing method. If the Hach test shows no arsenic, we will consider the well to be safe and, with the approval of the well owner, we will paint it green. If the Hach test shows some arsenic, we will submit a water sample to one of the laboratories for more accurate testing. If the lab test shows arsenic at or below 50ppb, we will consider it safe and ask that it be painted green. If the lab test for arsenic is above 50ppb, we will consider it to be unsafe and ask permission to paint it red. We will offer the home delivery service, for a small fee to pay expenses, to the residents who have been using unsafe wells.

Strategy Component #6: Decide on the Remediation Method In 2016, we replaced the wells contaminated with arsenic with ring wells, shallow wells that brought up arsenic free water from the first aquifer nearest the surface. However, this method of remediation may not work in all cases, so other solutions will also be considered, selecting the best choice for each school. Here are our options: 1) ring wells (shallow wells) and 2) deep tube wells (going down below the aquifers contaminated with arsenic) The two wells take water from different aquifers but look the same above ground. We will be testing different aquifers to decide the best one as a water source. We are also evaluating two types of arsenic removal equipment (Figures 6 and 7). Figure 6 shows the arsenic removal system manufactured by Drinkwell Systems, and Figure 7 shows the arsenic removal system manufactured by AdEdge Water Technology. AdEdge Water Technologies is a company that is focused on providing water treatment solutions. AdEdge’s most unique offering is the ability to treat more than 20 different contaminants such as arsenic, nitrate, iron, manganese, radionuclides, ammonia and others, by employing more than 20 different treatment approaches (filtration, biological, adsorption, ion exchange, etc.).



Figure 6. Drinkwell Systems Arsenic Removal Equipment.

Figure 7. AdEdge Water Technologies Arsenic Removal Equipment.


Strategy Component #7: Recruit More Staff and Develop Management Procedures We will need to train students to monitor wells and maintenance people to do repairs. We will also need to organize and manage water delivery personnel. As the project grows and we provide water services to more and more people, we will need to solve management problems, develop procedures, documentation, training and oversight, for example.


Strategy Component #8: Visit the Schools to: -

Describe our project Test the water Decide with the school if their water is safe or not. If it is not, decide what remediation method is best.

We will be visiting all of the 38 high schools and colleges in Sitakunda Upazila to evaluate each of them. Figure 8 shows Shahena meeting with a headmaster. Figure 9 shows Shahena taking water sample for testing.

Figure 8. Shahena Discussing the CWB Project with a Headmaster.



Figure 9. Collecting water sample for testing.

Strategy Component #9: Other Complementary CWB Projects We have three other Chemists Without Borders projects that complement the overall project of getting safe water to the residents of Sitakunda Upazila. They are: -

Health Education Courses Developing Low Cost Arsenic Test Kits Developing a method for testing arsenic in rice

As the water remediation project grows, we will also be working on the above projects. We will be teaching the Health Education Course at the high schools that participate in the water delivery program. We will use arsenic test kits manufactured in Bangladesh as soon as we can qualify them and ensure their accuracy. We will also transfer the test procedure for arsenic in rice to the lab at AUW once the process is fully developed at the University of Massachusetts Amherst in the U.S.

Strategy Component #10: Goal Is Clean Drinking Water to All 400,000 Residents of Sitakunda Upazila by End of 2018 -

Clean water to all the high schools. Delivery of drinking water to homes. Planning for replicating the model throughout Bangladesh. 47 Grosse; Mobilizing Chemistry Expertise To Solve Humanitarian Problems Volume 1 ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2017.

Summary of Impacts of This Project in Sitakunda Upazila -

Clean water and arsenic awareness for tens of thousands of high school students. Clean water delivered to tens of thousands of homes. Dozens of entrepreneurs delivering water. Dozens of lives saved each year. A template for all of Bangladesh (impact will be 400 times the impact for Sitakunda Upazila).


Current Status of the Project in July of 2017 We have visited and tested the water at over half of the high schools and colleges in Sitakunda Upazila. We are encountering some problems in getting accurate laboratory measurements of arsenic and other contaminants. We are learning that the way we collect the samples and handle them before submitting them to the laboratory is critical and we are in the process of solving this problem. We are starting a program of presentations to solicit funding for the project. Our members and volunteers are spread around the U.S. and in other countries, so we are recruiting these members and volunteers to present our work to Rotary Clubs, ACS sections and other organizations.

Conclusion Chemists Without Borders started this project in September of 2014 with the goal of educating high school students in Bangladesh about the health hazards of arsenic in drinking water. The assumption was that, if a well was contaminated, the students could just take water from another well. None of us were experts in this field, and the women encountered a number of obstacles in trying to achieve our objective. As we continued to work on the problem, we found that often there were no secondary wells that could be used and that fixing the problem was really more important than just pointing it out through education. That led to a fundraising effort and the contributions of generous Rotary Clubs to fund the construction of two ring wells to replace the contaminated ones. We now are working on a model in which we concentrate on getting clean water to the high schools and then deliver small quantities for drinking and cooking to residents, using the high schools as distribution hubs. We are hopeful that this model will enable us to ensure safe drinking water for all 400,000 residents of Sitakunda Upazila by the end of 2018 and that the model can be used as a template for other regions of Bangladesh.

Contact Information Anyone who would like to support our work financially or as a volunteer can reach us by e-mail: Ray Kronquist: [email protected] Shahena Begum: [email protected] 48 Grosse; Mobilizing Chemistry Expertise To Solve Humanitarian Problems Volume 1 ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2017.

Appendix 1 About the Authors


Dr. Ray Kronquist holds a Ph. D. in Physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He has had a career as an entrepreneur, starting and managing small companies in a variety of industries. He was elected President of Chemists Without Borders at the beginning of 2016. Shahena Begum started working with Chemists Without Borders Bangladesh project in September 2014. She has completed an online degree in International Development from Queen’s University, Canada and studied Management at the National University, Bangladesh. Asian Studies was her undergraduate major at the Asian University for Women (AUW) in Bangladesh. Original interns, in addition to Shahena: 1. Ano Anowara Begum is currently studying for her Masters in Public Health at University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, USA. She accomplished a B.Sc. in Public Health from Asian University for Women (AUW). She is one of the five initial interns involved in the CWB arsenic project in Bangladesh. Please click the link in reference 3 to know more details about Ano. 2. Nishat Nishat Raihana completed her B.Sc. in Computer Science – Information Communication Technology (CS-ICT) at the Asian University for Women. She belongs to a middle class family and her parents are from a small town of Bangladesh. She is one of the five initial interns involved in the CWB arsenic project in Bangladesh. Please click the link in reference 4 to know more details about Nishat. 3. Taslima Taslima Khanam graduated from Asian University for Women (AUW) in 2014. She had majored in Public Health Studies. She worked with "Skills and Training Enhancement Project" (STEP) of the World Bank Bangladesh as an Education Department Intern. She is one of the five initial interns involved in the CWB arsenic project in Bangladesh. Please click the link in reference 5 to know more details about Taslima. 4. Monira Monira Sultana graduated from Asian the University for Women (AUW) in 2014. She was a former student at Humboldt State University in California, USA. She is one of the five initial interns involved in the CWB arsenic project in Bangladesh. Please click the link in reference 6 to know more details about Monira. 49 Grosse; Mobilizing Chemistry Expertise To Solve Humanitarian Problems Volume 1 ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2017.

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Talukder, S. A., Chatterjee, A., Zheng, J., Kosmus, W. Studies of Drinking Water Quality and Arsenic Calamity in Groundwater of Bangladesh. Proceedings of the International Conference on Arsenic Pollution of Groundwater in Bangladesh: Causes, Effects and Remedies, Dhaka, Bangladesh, February 1998. Smith, A. H.; Lingas, E. O.; Rahman, M. Contamination of drinking-water by arsenic in Bangladesh: a public health emergency. Bulletin of the World Health Organization 2000, 78 (9). Profile of Anowara Begum. https://docs.google.com/document/d/ 1Hc0IcOU-psYMHvr6HHg64PvDZ3WUcJIlTPYxNRLA5f8/edit (accessed August 2, 2017). Chemists Without Borders Arsenic Education Project. https:// www.indiegogo.com/projects/chemists-without-borders-bangladesharsenic-educ-n/#/ (accessed August 2, 2017). Profile of Taslima Khanam. https://docs.google.com/document/d/ 15ryPSEx6cUWfHxSS1qw0obG2tVK2IsC980gHyQj8R6Y/edit (accessed August 2, 2017). Profile of Monira Sultana. https://docs.google.com/document/d/ 1xVP8fyox7K1PIMdo1TxXI_7WcMXOv4k7oAzdwVnfU6E/edit (accessed August 2, 2017). Arsenic Problem. https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4RhI2zVeKNVm50X3dhMGpXcW8/view?usp=sharing (accessed August 2, 2017). Chemists Without Borders Arsenic Education Project. https:// www.indiegogo.com/projects/chemists-without-borders-bangladesharsenic-educ-n/# (accessed August 2, 2017). Joypura School Arsenic Awareness Visit. http://www.agami.org/node/269 (accessed August 2, 2017). Project Well. http://projectwellusa.org/ (accessed August 2, 2017). Department of Public Health Engineering. http://www.dphe.gov.bd/ index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=125&Itemid=133 (accessed August 2, 2017). DPHE Water Testing Cost. http://www.dphe.gov.bd/ index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=127&Itemid=135 (accessed August 2, 2017). Hope Foundation. http://www.hopeforbangladesh.org/ (accessed August 2, 2017). Chemists Without Borders and Agami Collaborate on Health Courses. http:/ /agami.org/node/309 (accessed August 2, 2017).


Arsenic Education and Remediation in Bangladesh - ACS Publications

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