Arsenic tube well check, Chandpur

About this task

Chandpur is known as one of the districts with the most arsenic-affected tube wells. Visiting every tube well in a village: green (safe), red (arsenic), or with the paint worn off or newly sunk. With the list, a request for testing to the upazila public health engineering office, and showing families at red wells the nearest safe source.

Why it matters

In many areas of Bangladesh tube well water carries arsenic, which over years causes skin disease and cancer. Two decades ago wells were painted red or green, but much of the paint is gone and many new wells were never tested.

What changes after

Every well in the village listed; the testing request filed; every family at a red well knows where to fetch drinking water.

Who can join

Anyone; local young people who know the village paths are most useful.

What it costs

Getting ready, step by step

• 2 weeks before

  Split the village by hamlet into two parts; pairs for each.

  Rule the register: no., owner, location or landmark, colour (red/green/none), families drinking, year sunk, depth if known.

• 1 week before

  Visit the upazila public health engineering office to learn how to apply for tests and what details they need.

  Tell the union council's ward member.

• Listing days

  Visit every well, speak to the owner, fill the register; photograph the paint mark.

  Mark separately wells with worn paint, new wells, or any doubt.

• The week after

  File the application with the list of unmarked and doubtful wells at the public health engineering office; take a received copy.

  Show families at red wells the nearest green well or safe source.

• A month later

  Follow up the application at the office.

  When results come, tell the families and update the register.

Who does what

• Lead and applicant (1): Liaises with the public health engineering office, files and follows up the application. — ____________
• Listers (in pairs) (2): Visit each well, talk with owners, fill the register and take photos. — ____________
• Talking with families (1): Calmly explain to families at red wells and show the nearest safe source. — ____________

The day, hour by hour

• 08:00Team gathers; registers, pens, charged phones; hamlets assigned.
• 08:30Start well-by-well in the first hamlet.
• 10:30Break; the lead checks both pairs' registers.
• 11:00Second hamlet; include wells at the mosque, school and market.
• 13:00Lunch and rest.
• 14:00Remaining wells; talk with families at red wells.
• 16:00Write the register up cleanly; a separate list of unmarked and doubtful wells.

What can go wrong, and what to do

• An owner is upset or fears the well will be shut. → Explain that we only list and close nothing; red-well water is fine for washing, just not for drinking or cooking.
• Someone says boiling or alum removes arsenic. → Gently correct it: boiling does not remove arsenic; drink from a safe well or another safe source.
• Months pass with no response to the application. → Follow up with the received copy; if needed, raise it through the government services line 333.
• A team member paints a well themselves. → Never; marking is for the public health engineering office after a test. A wrong colour puts lives at risk.

Useful numbers

• 333Government information, services and complaints
• 16263Shasthya Batayon: a doctor on the phone

Team notes