Ingestion of unsafe water: is having a safe source enough?

Bangladesh has achieved a remarkable success in handpump and piped water supply coverage. Majority (64 per cent) of the urban population and nearly all (93 per cent) of the rural population have access to handpump or piped water (BBS, 1995). Despite reaching such enviable success in installing handpump or piped water system, water related diseases remain a major cause or mortality and morbidity in Bangladesh (Mitra, 1992). This indicates that ingestion of contaminated water - the predominant mode of pathogen transmission - continues to be practised. The logical questions are: why do people keep on using unsafe surface water sources, what are the practices that put people at risk of ingesting unsafe water, and what behavioural changes are required to prevent such ingestion. Presented here are findings of a study undertaken to investigate domestic water management practices in rural and urban homes in Bangladesh in an attempt to answer these questions.