Universal drinking water security

The challenge

Bangladesh has seen positive economic transformation and declining rates of poverty in recent years. Yet the government and municipalities still struggle to regulate and deliver safe, reliable and affordable access to drinking water. Communities face ongoing water insecurity and environmental risks. There are particular challenges in rural areas, where the majority of the population live and are often disconnected from national agencies and programmes.

The Sustainable Development Goals provide the global mandate to achieve universal access to drinking water, and the Government of Bangladesh is actively advocating the SDG6 in the United Nations High Level Panel on Water. New models and approaches are required to achieve universal and safe drinking water security in Bangladesh.

The observatory

This observatory provides a unique opportunity to study water security risks based on an extensive longitudinal dataset. The Matlab Bazaar health and demographic surveillance system (HDSS) represents a population of 226,000 people living within a defined rural area near the Meghna River, with health and demographic data spanning multiple decades.

We will model new risk metrics by fusing existing streams of health data with climate, hydrology, welfare, economic and drinking water infrastructure data. New monitoring metrics will help design institutional responses and support the Government of Bangladesh’s goal of universal and safe drinking water security.

The study will explore the impacts of water-related hazards on poverty outcomes in Matlab Bazaar and evaluate alternative sequences and types of water security interventions, particularly river embankment for flood protection.

Research questions

1. Can multi-decadal health and demographic data improve risk-prediction models for water security?
2. How can we deliver effective and replicable institutions to ensure universal drinking water security?
3. What information systems are necessary and effective to ensure policy goals are met and maintained to leave no one behind?