Period: September 2016 - November 2016
Client(s): World Vision Bangladesh
The study areas Laksam, Comilla and Assasuni, Satkhira are the arsenic and salinity prone area, respectively. The study assessed the existing water supply options in the study areas in terms of technical performance in removing chemical and bacterial contaminants, operation and maintenance and user acceptance to identify the suitable water options in the study areas.
Article published in journal
With the rapid pace of urbanization in Bangladesh, the daily generation of solid waste in urban cities is increasing day by day. This huge amount of waste poses significant challenges for cities in terms of environmental degradation, public health risks, economic losses, and overall quality of life. In an effort to address these issues and protect the well-being of approximately 1.8 million people in 12 cities and towns, SNV, with the support of the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, has been awarded a new project in Bangladesh called “Transitioning to Sustainable Urban Water Cycles in Bangladesh.” The project aims to improve urban issues including solid waste management by enhancing access to safe and essential urban services. One of the key objectives is to strengthen the capacities of cities in providing comprehensive, inclusive services by enhancing the professionalism and financial viability of urban sanitation and solid waste services. To achieve this, SNV intends to conduct an in-depth analysis of existing policies, acts, laws, strategies, and institutional arrangements related to the solid waste management (SWM) system in urban areas, with a specific focus on their project cities. In order to accomplish this task, ITN-BUET is responsible for providing technical input and expertise.
July 2023 to December 2023
‘Electrode-integrated bioreactor and floating constructed wetland as decentralized wastewater treatment systems’ is 10-months long laboratory-scale research, which will investigate the integrated impact of fuel cell-based bioreactor tank with constructed wetland systems for the treatment of domestic wastewater from septic tanks. Fuel cell-based bioreactor tank achieve high pollutants removal rates under low wastewater retention time, through degradation of organic pollutants and production of bio-energy. The treatment system will function to remove environmental pollutants, macro-pollutants, metals and pathogenic parameters and quantify the bio-energy production that will act as a catalyst for the system function. The proposed research is expected to develop guidelines for a simple, novel wastewater treatment systems in institutions and/or domestic wastewater treatment in urban, semi urban areas of Bangladesh.
December 2022 to ongoing
Background
In coastal areas of Bangladesh, villagers rely heavily on Pond Sand Filters for drinking water, but after cyclones Sidr and Aila, many of these filters are out of order and the number of available fresh water sources has decreased. This has led to long lines and insufficient water for families. Women and children often have to walk long distances to get drinking water, which is scarce and costly in these areas. Some people are unable to afford to buy water and have to drink unsafe water. To address this issue, the Department of Public Health Engineering has installed 970 solar desalination units in 61 areas of 16 coastal districts through the project titled “Safe Water Supply Project using Environment Friendly Solar Desalination Unit”.
Objectives of the Assignment
The prime objective of this assignment is to:
• Evaluate the water desalination technology and its efficiency based on users’ feedback at field level.
• Provide recommendations to the project for the further expansion of the interventions.
December 2022 to January 2023