Water quality, Sanitation system and Hygiene condition of selected Slum areas in Chittagong Bangladesh

Abstract

Background: Lack of access to clean water and poor sanitation practices are the major risk factors of various diseases among slum dwellers. Over 1.5%of 17 million people of Bangladesh live in slums across the country. Methodology: This cross-sectional study was conducted at three different slums of Chittagong (Kazir Dewri, Jhutala and Gucchi Para) between Augusts.2018 to April. 2019. Data were collected through survey using prescribed questionnaire and laboratory investigation of water sample collected from selected households of each slum. Survey recruited 245 individuals from equal number of households and 30 water samples were collected having 10 each (5 drinking water and 5 household use) from 3 slums. Eosin Methylene Blue (EMB) and Nutrient - Agar (NA) media were used for coliform test using Heterotrophic Plate Count (HPC) method. In addition, the Chemical test of BOD, PH and DO were done to assess multi-parameter of the water samples. Results: Almost half of the study participants were below the age of 30 years old (47.8%), 72.2% were illiterate, and 71.4% of the family reported having 2 to 5 members. Results of the investigation reported of having access to line pipe water for drinking (80.8%) and other household use (74.3%), while river/pond or dump water was used for drinking by 11.0% and 21.2% for household use. Almost half of the participants were suffering from some diseases (48.2%) and 21.6% were suffering from diarrhea. All of the drinking and household use water samples were found to have positive growth with Coliform bacteria, where bacterial count ranges from 2 to 500+ colonies. Conclusion: Substantial proportion of study sample, living in urban slums suffers from water and hygiene related diseases. Urgent attention is needed to improve access to clean water and improve sanitary condition for urban slum dwellers in Chittagong.