Project Ombu: Addressing Bangladesh's water crisis with sustainable solutions
Till date, Project Ombu has helped nearly 32,035 people across the country by providing them with safe drinking water
Renghinpara, a village four kilometres from Thanchi Sadar in Bandarban, suffers from acute water crisis. There is little to no access to safe drinking water.
"Women go to fetch water three times a day. Moreover, the long queues and a 30-minute long walking distance make it very difficult. Often, when we are late to return from jhum cultivation, it gets difficult to fetch water, and due to limited water sources, many return with empty pitchers," said Chongkhoy Mro, a local resident.
According to the Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP) Report-2022, the proportion of Bangladesh's population with access to safely managed drinking water (defined by the WHO/UNICEF as an improved water source that is accessible on premises, available when needed and free from faecal and priority chemical contamination) is 59.11%.
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In other words, around 40% of the population, or approximately 70 million people, lack access to safe water.
To address this challenge, Give Bangladesh Foundation, a voluntary development organisation, came forward and developed 'Project Ombu' (ombu means water in Bangla).
Under the project, an approximately 4,600-feet-long pipeline has been constructed to provide safe water for over 600 people of Renghinpara.
Water is sourced from a stream 3,500 feet above the area. A special filtration system has been installed to remove gravel, leaves, etc from the water.
Three water collection points have been constructed as well — one in the community, one in a hostel area and the other on the school premises. Eight taps have also been installed so that people do not have to wait in long queues.
The organisation collaborated with local construction workers to implement the project and finished it in 14 days. The project cost over Tk4 lakh.
In that particular area in Bandarban, water crisis is also paired with sanitation problems. There was not a single toilet around the school. To help school-going children practise hygiene, Give Bangladesh Foundation has built two toilets on the hostel and school premises.
"In terms of water sources in our area, we only have a fountain. Often the water gets polluted, and children suffer from waterborne diseases such as malaria, typhoid, dysentery, etc," said Mangchung Mro, an assistant teacher at the Niabut Para Government Primary School.
"Also, during monsoon, we can't collect water from the fountain. We are forced to harvest rainwater for drinking and cooking. With the pipeline system installed, now we can easily collect water anytime of the year," he added.
Project Ombu started its journey way back in 2017. That year, Bangladesh experienced one of the most severe floods in its history.
Heavy monsoon rains caused floods across more than one-third of the country. In northern and central parts, they affected millions of people and caused around a thousand schools to be closed.
Give Bangladesh Foundation provided emergency relief services to the flood affected communities. They provided alum (a water purifier chemical compound) to the flood victims but discovered a bigger problem: the water could not really be purified as the sources themselves were damaged.
"When a flood hits, people face a crisis of safe drinking water. Even when the flood ends, the crisis remains. In fact, the aftereffect of a flood is even more dangerous — as it sustains for a couple of months. The water sources get damaged and thus the people suffer," said Mohammad Saifullah Mithu, the co-founder and president of Give Bangladesh.
They came up with the idea of installing double platform tubewells so that they can survive floods and serve as a water collection point for the community. But the idea did not see the light of day due to fund shortage. Also, it was a relatively new concept to be adopted.
However, they managed to install two tubewells the following year to test the idea.
"We used data of the area's highest level of flood water in the past to determine the height of the upper platform. Some areas experienced one to two feet of water while some experienced four to five feet. Usually, we raise the platform eight feet from surface level. As we introduced them at public places like local markets or mosques, people could come by boats or rafts to collect water," he said.
Till date, they have installed 12 double-platform tubewells in Kurigram, Gaibandha, and Sirajganj.
Younus Hasan, a local resident from Belkuchi upazila in Sirajganj, shared with us that the tubewells have indeed been beneficial for their community. They switch to the upper platform ones if the lower one is damaged by a natural disaster.
Project Ombu divided the country into three zones: the flood-prone north, the Chattogram Hill Tracts (CHT) which lack water sources, and the south which has saline water. And they approach each region with a different solution.
In the northern areas, they installed double platform tubewells. In the CHT, they constructed reservoirs, and for the saline water problem in the south, they are currently working on the research and development phase of a solution.
The water crisis in the south is quite different from other regions. There is water, but it is saline water. About 19 districts of this region share the same problem.
Bangladesh is one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change. Frequent floods, cyclones, tidal surges etc affect freshwater supplies with deeply entrenched saline intrusions in coastal communities– leading to several health hazards.
The existing solution is Reverse Osmosis machines which basically filter the saline water. These machines are imported from China, India, and the US. But they come with a few concerns.
One, these machines heavily generate wastewater. In fact, 60-70% of water gets wasted while 30-40% is converted into drinkable state. And the other one is these machines have a very high import cost.
A study by two professors of Australia's Queensland University of Technology (QUT) found that rice hulls can desalinate water. Saifullah said they have developed a model of this desalination technology based on this finding.
E-Lab, a research and development firm, and the QUT have collaborated in this project. As of 2023, E-Lab is conducting comprehensive multi-layer tests to ensure that the solution is reliable as well as efficient.
They expect to implement the project this year, inaugurating the first plant in Khulna's Koyra upazila. Each plant will be capable of purifying 12,000-15,000 litres of water.
However, in the south, they have installed three solar submersible pumps in Nhila Union of Teknaf near the Rohingya camps to desalinate water.
The left zone of the Dhaka-Teknaf highway has fresh water, thanks to the Naf River, but the right zone has saline water. That's where the pumps help.
Under Project Ombu, there are nine active volunteers who are mainly university students. A key portion of the organisation's funding comes through crowdfunding. Another source is partnership with other organisations. For instance, KK Foundation and Aga Khan School have funded them on separate occasions.
Till date, Project Ombu has reached nearly 32,035 people as direct beneficiaries to the solutions it executed.
"Concerned departments of the government, the private sector, NGOs, and non-profits like us have their own share of responsibilities to address this exacerbating water scarcity in Bangladesh. Instead of making half-hearted efforts or raising unclear demands, the utmost priority should be addressing the problems in a specific, sustainable and cost-oriented way. To combat this setback, we must focus on a blended approach- encompassing both innovative technology and a community-inclusive implementation," Saifullah concluded.
