ASTRA- short for Aiding Sustainable Water Technology Realization in Arsenic and Salinity contaminated Areas of Bangladesh, has developed a decision aid tool which helps identify potentially appropriate drinking water methods for arsenic- and salt-mitigation in Bangladesh. Presentation delivered at 37th WEDC Conference, Sept 2014 Gábor L. Szántó, D. van Halem, L.C. Rietveld, S. Olivero, A. Adams, D.C. Roy, J. Barendse, K. Baby, M. Hoque, J.W. Dogger Find out more at http://www.ircwash.org/news/introducing-astra-project

1. Decision-support for arsenic- and salt-mitigation
in Bangladesh: the ASTRA approach
Gábor L. Szántó, D. van Halem, L.C. Rietveld, S. Olivero, A. Adams, D.C. Roy, J. Barendse, K.
Baby, M. Hoque, J.W. Dogger

2. Bangladeshi water crisis
 Drivers of the water challenge
 A high population density (~1,000 p.km-1)
combined with widespread poverty
 Pathogenic contamination of the surface
water bodies
 Arsenic contamination of the shallow
aquifers
 High salinity in the coastal areas
 Unbalanced distribution of precipitation
 (Over)abstraction of main rivers
Source: www.bgs.ac.uk

3. ASTRA-Bangladesh
 What is ASTRA-Bangladesh?
 Aiding Sustainable Water Technology Realization in Arsenic- and Salt-contaminated
Areas of Bangladesh
 BRAC WASH II
 Objectives
 Assessment of low-cost, appropriate water supply technologies (both
from and outside Bangladesh) for the mitigation of arsenic and salt
problems
 Multidisciplinary evaluation of the applicability of the best (pro-poor;
rural) methods in diverse Bangladeshi settings

4. Scope of the project
 Potentially applicable methods from
 Best practice technologies involved in current arsenic- and salt-mitigation
in Bangladesh,
 Sustainably applied mitigation technologies in the international,
developing-context,
 High-tech methods that can be potentially relevant for Bangladeshi
arsenic, and
 Promising arsenic- and salt-removing drinking water methods that can
become potentially relevant for Bangladesh in the foreseeable future.

5. Intended use(rs)
 Decision-makers (water experts)
 Advises on relevant method information
 Supports formulation of an approach, a policy or a specific project
 Project stakeholders (donors, users, experts, service providers)
 Advises a joint decision-making process
 Support objectivity in a multistakeholder setting
 Education (students, trainees)
 Offers a peer reviewed knowledge base
 Supports capacity building

6. The ASTRA approach
CONTEXT ANALYSIS (SITUATION ASSESSMENT)
NATURAL CONTEXT FACTORS HUMAN TECHNICAL CONTEXT FACTORS CONTEXT FACTORS
SELECTION OF APPROACH
WATER SOURCE ASSESSMENT
ARSENIC- AND SALT-FREE
GROUNDWATER
ARSENIC/SALT REMOVAL FROM
GROUNDWATER
NON-GROUNDWATER
SOLUTIONS
MATCHING CONTEXT AND ELIGIBILITY
ASTRA ELIGIBILITY SCREENING

7. Natural context
Situation criteria Included options Signified aspect
Water source Surface, brackish, rain- and
groundwater
Locality of water body
Removal Arsenic, salt Arsenic or salt
Ground formation Sand and gravel, clay formations,
compacted formations, soft
weathered rock and bedrock
Soil composition
Water lifting 0-8, 8-15, 15-40 and >40 m Depth of water level
Flood danger Not affected, only flooded in
extreme weather & annually
affected by floods
Level of flood risk

8. Human context
Situation criteria Included options Signified aspect
Location Densely populated urban; densely
populated, low-income urban;
moderately populated urban, peri-urban,
rural and rural, remote
Settlement type and
population density
Site selection Settlement, agricultural and coastal Type of location
Scale of implementation Household, shared, small community,
school or institution and large user
group
Scale of sustainable
dissemination
Preferred level of water
delivery
Household, shared, small community,
school or institution and large user
group
Connection level to water
supply
Preferred management
level
Household, shared, small community,
school or institution and large user
group
Type and level of method
managing
Energy available None, electricity grid, fuel generated,
solar and wind energy
Possible means of powering
device
Access to site On parcel, outside of household area,
<10 minutes to access, <30 minutes
to access and >30 minutes to access
Means of accessibility to
water point

9. Technical context
Situation criteria Included options Signified aspect
Status in Bangladesh Widespread, known, little known and
unknown
Level of embeddedness
System sophistication Labor-intensive, intermediate and
technology-intensive
Labor-using or automated
process
Water transport Manual, animal, small- an large-scale
motorized
Water transport options
Construction costs Negligible, <USD25, USD25-100,
USD100-1,000 and >USD1,000
Costs of physical installation
Maintenance costs Negligible, <USD5 per month, USD5-
100 per month and >USD100 per
month
Costs related to O&M
Construction time Insignificant, a day, several days to a
week and weeks
Typical duration of
constructing
Level of expertise in O&M Household, local technician, local
government and external experts
Required level of skills in
O&M
User acceptance No activity required, limited
extension, considerable extension
and extensive campaign required
Level of requirement to
inform user about method
(implementation)

10. Method or chain?

11. The compendium

12. Testing phase
 2 workshops and a 2-phase reviewing round
 30+ medior- or senior-level Bangladeshi water experts
 20 international water experts
 Internal & external reviews: 10+ scientific experts
 Testing workshops evaluated
 Quality of the ASTRA approach and value of the tool to support
sustainability in the Bangladeshi water sector
 Quality of the selected pool of methods
 Quality of the selection criteria

13. Evaluation - Approach
 General opinion of the ASTRA score: Good (3.91±0.74)
 Strengths:
 Easy to define selection criteria
 Relevant options are easy to identify
 Quick and simple first impression of available pool of methods
 Easy to browse for specific information on methods
 Bangladeshi track record supports connecting with other local experts
 Weaknesses:
 Information on practical functioning of methods is sometimes lacking
 Limited use if location has a complicated setting (many selection criteria; too
few options)
 Application by non-experts necessitates an elaborate manual on proper use
 ‘New’ methods

14. Evaluation - Content
 Evaluation of the compendium:
 Pool of methods is accepted as relevant (3.7±0.67)
 Boiling suggested as extra method
 Most popular approach: contamination –free groundwater abstraction
 Most popular methods: deep tube wells (4.0±1.18), piped water systems
(3.91±0.83) and rainwater harvesting methods (3.75±0.75)
 Especially treatment and surface water methods are distrusted (riverbank
filtration is least popular (2.64±1.03)!)
 Evaluation of selection criteria:
 16 out of the 20 criteria were evaluated above 3.5
 Only ‘Access to site’ and ‘Water transport’ are removed from the criteria
list

15. Conclusions
 ASTRA approach can contribute to
 increased objectivity in water method selection
 Efficient provision of initial information to
project partners
 improved cooperation of partners in the
selection of sustainable method(s)
 Transparent decision-support to keep
process simple and reliable
 Even with regular updating, tool relies
heavily on the availability and quality of
data on method functioning
 Tool users remain responsible for final
decision!

16. Thank you for your attention!
The online ASTRA-Bangladesh tool is available for testing and use at
www.astradst.info