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household surveys were conducted.
In addition to aiding the authors in creating the household survey questions, these interviews also gave the
authors the opportunity to verify the historical information concerning all the efforts that had taken place in the
community. Other than these purposes, another purpose of these interviews was to aid the authors in observing
how effective the efforts had been from the perspective of the organizations/people involved.
These interviews were held individually with NGO workers, local Environmental Health Committee members,
social leaders, and DCC workers that worked in the area. In addition to these participants, a local contractor was
also interviewed. In total 9 participants were interviewed for this process.
3.4 Environmental Laboratory Analysis
Environmental laboratory analyses were conducted in order to check water samples from water supply systems
and wastewater samples from biogas based sewerage systems and pit latrines.
In total, 17 drinking water samples were collected, from the main pump (1), taps (6), tanks (4) and storage
containers (6), and were tested for fecal coliform (FC) bacteria counts following the standard methods (APHA et
al., 1989); the sampling points in the drinking water supply system are presented in Chapter 5. The samples were
collected between 9am and 12pm, stored at a temperature of approximately 4 degrees Celsius in a sampling-box
and transported to the ICDDR,B laboratory within 30 minutes. The standard method of using the membrane filter
technique for the FC count was applied on the same day. Every test was performed in two dilutions (1:4 and 1:1 per
100 ml water). The count was determined based on the average of the two dilutions.
Wastewater samples were tested from 4 different biogas based sewerage systems. Five to six samples were
collected from various locations of a tested system. The locations included the connection pit at the end of a
lane, an inlet tank before entering the biogas chamber (influent), hydraulic chamber, the soak pit or just after
hydraulic chamber when there was no soak pit (effluent), and the canal or water body into which the effluent was
discharged. Four samples were collected from pit latrines; the description of the locations of the samples, and the
results of the samples themselves, are presented in Chapter 6. The wastewater samples were tested for BOD, COD,
nitrogen compounds, FC count and other variables. The samplings were done in different bottles and in different
amounts as suggested in the standard method for the different parameters (APHA et al., 1989). The BOD, COD and
nitrogen tests were done by the Bangladesh University of Engineering Technology (BUET). The test for pH, electric
conductivity (EC), and temperature were all done on-site, and the FC count was conducted at the environmental
laboratory at EPRC. The physical and general observations were performed on site by the EPRC research team
during the sample collection.
The important results are analyzed and presented in the relevant sections of the report. The detailed results of the
test samples are included in the Appendix 3.
3.5 Dissemination Workshops
Two separate types of workshops were held to disseminate and discuss the findings of all the WS projects that
were undertaken.
The first series of workshops were held at the local level in each block to inform all the residents of each respective
block of the outcomes of the study. Then, on 19 February 2004, a workshop was held at the national level,
where politicians and other decision and policy makers at the national level along with representatives from
international organizations were invited. In addition to these participants, local specialists in the area of WS,
senior members of the Bauniabad community and both local and international NGOs were also invited to attend.
The workshop, jointly organized by UNU-IAS, EPRC and DWASA, was entitled “Water and Sanitation Issues of Urban
Poor” and was attended by 78 participants. The workshop had three main objectives, they were:
(1) To share and discuss the water and sanitation experience in Bauniabad.
(2) To discuss water and sanitation issues facing the urban poor among policy and programme professionals.
(3) To develop recommendations for water and sanitation improvement among the urban poor.
After the many informative presentations about the WS conditions of Bangladesh, and Bauniabad in particular,
there was a discussion session where many recommendations were derived with the aim of improving the
conditions of Bauniabad. The programme and the summary report including the recommendations of this
workshop are included in the Appendix 1.
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