Assessment of Drinking Water Quality and Its Effect on Health Sector in Satkhira Region, Bangladesh

Abstract

This study evaluates drinking water quality and its health impacts in Shyamnagar Upazila, Satkhira, a disaster-prone rural area in Bangladesh. Residents face significant health issues like hypertension and kidney disease, primarily due to salinity intrusion from rising sea levels and groundwater contact. This problem is worsened by limited freshwater access and the unreliability of pond and rainwater harvesting during dry seasons, which also heightens the risk of waterborne diseases such as diarrhea and cholera. Additionally, arsenic contamination (0-25 ppb) from shallow tube wells poses long-term health threats like skin lesions, with groundwater over-extraction making traditional wells unsustainable.