What problems does groundwater cause?

Contamination of ground water can result in poor drinking water quality, loss of water supply, degraded surface water systems, high cleanup costs, high costs for alternative water supplies, and/or potential health problems.

What contaminants are most frequently found in groundwater in Bangladesh?

Groundwater in Bangladesh contains a higher concentration of arsenic than surface water sources and the groundwater contains both forms of inorganic arsenic (AsIII and AsV), and AsIII is the predominant species.

Do you think the groundwater development in Bangladesh is facing several problems?

Currently, the shallow groundwater is facing two major challenges: (1) widespread contamination by elevated (exceeding the WHO Standard of 10 µg/L) arsenic (As) concentrations, and (2) rapid decline in groundwater storage in major cities (e.g., Dhaka) and intensely irrigated areas (e.g., Barind Tract region in …

What causes water pollution in Bangladesh?

Anthropogenic sources such as untreated industrial effluents, improper disposal of domestic waste, agricultural runoffs are the main contributors regarding water pollution. A total water pollution status of this country, as well as the sources of this severe condition, is crucial to evaluate public health risk.

Why is there so much arsenic in Bangladesh’s groundwater?

But it is now widely believed that the high arsenic levels in the groundwater in Bangladesh have a natural geological source which may be due to abstraction water from quaternary confined and semi-confined alluvial or deltaic aquifers.

How are people affected by the water crisis in Bangladesh?

According to the WHO, the levels of arsenic have contributed to the largest mass poisoning in history, affecting an estimated 30-35 million people in Bangladesh. Exposure to arsenic can cause cancer and severely damage many integral systems in the human body.

What kind of pollution is there in Bangladesh?

In Bangladesh, arsenopyrite has been identified as the prime source of As pollution (Fazal et al., 2001a). Arsenic has been recognized as a toxin and can be carcinogenic depending on its chemical and physical forms, concentration and duration of exposure. Chemically, it exist as organic and inorganic species.

How is the quality of water in Dhaka declining?

While efforts are made to sustain water quantity and quality in city water supplies, Dhaka pumping has caused groundwater levels to drop more than 200 feet over the last 50 years and these levels continue to decline at a rate of up to 9 feet per year.