State of drinking water and its management aspects in Dhaka city

Abstract

The population of  Dhaka city is now assumed to be around 20 million. The city dwellers are facing acute shortage of water. Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority (DWASA) and Directorate of Public Health and Engineering (DPHE) are distributing water in Dhaka city. The present water demand is 2,474 MLD but the production is 2087.5. The DWASA is supplying water through 661 deep tube wells to the inhabitants of the city and more than 2000 private tube wells are abstracting water from different depths. This paper focuses on the demand and supply gap, collection pattern of water, its supply chain and wastages by different groups of people, finding alternative options to meet the crisis management etc. The DWASA needs to collect surface and rainwater and distribute after treatment. We recommend reducing the dependency on groundwater to maintain satisfactory underground level of water. The authority should replace the old supply chain by a new one, installing more number of new pumps with high capacity and establishing more number of overhead tanks. Industry and tannery should be relocated outsight the city to avoid water contamination and ensuring the availability of quality water. The Government should encourage the entrepreneurs by providing SME loan to establish more number of bottle/jar drinking water factories outskirts of Dhaka city and near the river bank under the close monitoring of Bangladesh Standard Testing Institute (BSTI), DWASA and DPHE to provide safe drinking water.