Experience in improving piped water supply to the 18 medium-sized towns of Bangladesh

Arsenic contamination in shallow aquifers is severe, and drinking water status is seriously affected in Bangladesh because the majority of the people rely on hand tubewells in both rural and urban areas. Consequently a piped water supply based on deep groundwater aquifers and surface water is considered more important to provide arsenic and iron free water to the consumers in urban areas of Bangladesh. As a result, a few water supply projects were initiated to manage piped water supply systems in core areas of the district towns and paurashavas (municipalities) of Bangladesh. One such project is the 18 District Towns Water Supply Project, which also includes hand tubewell supply in fringe and slum areas. The paper describes the existing piped water supply system condition, performance and management following recommendations to improve the piped water supply system in 18 medium-sized district towns of Bangladesh.