To combat the salinity problem in coastal areas, the Department of Public Health Engineering (DPHE) has installed 970 solar desalination units in 61 Upazilas of 16 coastal districts under the green pilot project titled “Safe Water Supply Project through Environment-Friendly Solar Desalination Unit”. The solar-powered water desalination system produces pure and safe water from any source and has been introduced as a new alternative water supply system to mitigate the scarcity of drinking water in coastal areas. The system functions not only as a solar desalination system but also as a rainwater harvesting system. The panels of the system can be used for capturing rainwater. Although numerous technologies are used to mitigate salinity concerns in such challenging regions of Bangladesh, there is a lack of understanding about their usefulness, social acceptance, operation, and maintenance challenges, all which impact sustainability.
The prime objective of this study is to:
• Assess the water desalination technology and evaluate its efficiency based on users’ feedback at the field level.
• Identify issues related to the system performance and provide recommendations for the further expansion of the interventions.
