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Waterborne diseases like diarrhoea, dysentery, cholera etc. are still the major health risk in Bangladesh. Health report 2005 reveals that 36000 children under 5 die from diarrhoea in each year in Bangladesh. BBS and UNICEF have estimated that children under 5 suffer from 3-5 episodes of diarrhoea each year, each of which suffers for 2-3 days and sometimes more than two weeks.
Many factors lead to high morbidity from diarrhoea, including poor sanitation, poor hygiene and contaminated water. Well planned and implemented Water Safety Plans (WSPs) are able to address issues of water source protection from contamination and water handling hygiene, and also support other initiatives to promote sanitation. In addition to microbial action, the safety of drinking water in Bangladesh is also threatened by chemical contamination. The principal risk is driven from arsenic contamination and about 29 million people are at risk of arsenic in drinking water above the Bangladesh standard of 50µgm/l. This figure would increase significantly if it is compared with WHO guideline value of 10 µgm/l. It has been experienced that the microbial contamination has been raised in alternative options applied in arsenic affected areas. Other chemical contamination caused by boron and manganese are also locally important including some cyanobacteria affect from some surface water sources used in drinking water supply.
The 3rd edition of the WHO guidelines for drinking water quality advocates for the use of risk based approach to water safety, popularly known as Water Safety Plan or WSP which is based on scientific evidence and which emphasize a catchment to consumer approach. This requires good design, construction, operation and maintenance of water supplies. The new approach of water safety also requires particular attention to delivery of safe water rather than just routine water testing. The WSP approach includes establishing health-based targets, implementation of water safety plans and undertaking independent surveillance.
WSP takes an effective process control measures rather than end product control in water system as the principal means of ensuring water safety. Control of risks through operation of preventive measures and maintenance with simple and consistent monitoring that allow problems to be detected early and remedial action to be taken immediately.
Therefore, WSP needs to be implemented in all water supply systems for ensuring safe water delivery and thus to reduce the risk of water borne diseases. At present, a large section of the professionals are not aware of the concept of WSP. To promote awareness on WSP, International Training Network (ITN) Centre, BUET has included this topic in its training agenda to organize training programme as a routine course for the water sector professionals.
The main objective of this training course is:
To promote awareness and to expand knowledge base of the participants on current approach of safety management of water through operational monitoring and process control. More specifically:
- to understand the hazards those make water unsafe;
- to identify contamination at different stages of water supply system;
- to identify control measures (existing or planned) that prevents hazards to ingress into the system and to control the process through operational monitoring;
- to assess sanitary and microbial risk of the water supply system through carrying out sanitary survey and
- to enhance the knowledge and skills of the professionals for better management of both asset and safety of the water supply system.
This is a specialized course to impart knowledge and skills to address water quality problems in Bangladesh. The course is designed for water supply professionals engaged in drinking water supply systems.
The participants are required to be a graduate with some knowledge of microbiology.
The professionals with practical work experience in water quality problems can attend the course.
The four day long course entail’s the following areas:
- Water supply situation
- Introduction to WSF and WSP
- Systematic assessment of systems
- Hazard analysis
- Risk assessment
- Operational monitoring and control
- Verification and validation
- Management plan
- Field assessment of water supply system
- Preparation of water safety plan
- Implementation strategy of WSP
ITN Centre’s Resource Pool and professionals having long experience in the field of water supply and water quality management will share their expertise services during the training course.
Persons interested to undertake the course are required to register their names to the ITN Centre. Registration form is available online. The number of seats is limited and registration shall be on a first-come first-serve basis.
To fill up the online application form click here.
To download application form click here.
A registration fee as per advertisement needs to be paid along with the registration form in the form of Account Payee Cheque/Bank draft/Cash.
Registration fee covers the following:
Course Materials, Notes & Hand-outs, Lunch and refreshments, Certificate from ITN-BUET.
ITN-BUET
ARI-ITN Building (4th & 5th floor)
BUET, Dhaka-1000, Bangladesh
Phone: +88 02 9663693 (direct); 9665650-80, Ext. 7104
Fax: +88 02 9663695
E-mail: itnoffice@itn.buet.ac.bd
diritn@itn.buet.ac.bd
Website: http://www.buet.ac.bd