Celebrating 14 years of legacy of providing safe drinking water

Staff Reporter, Dhaka : The focus of this year’s World Water Day is on accelerating the necessary changes to solve the global water and sanitation crisis. The urgency for swift action towards a sustainable solution has become more pressing than ever, as billions of people around the world still lack access to safe water. Bangladesh is no exception to this challenge, with many regions facing major health risks due to arsenic contamination and high levels of salinity in drinking water.

Probaho, a private sector-driven safe drinking water initiative, has taken on this challenge and started its journey in 2009 to support the government in mitigating the country’s water-related issues, especially in the arsenic-prone zones. As Probaho celebrates its 14th anniversary on the World Water Day, it aims to expand its coverage in the coastal belt to mitigate the water crisis escalated by climate change, while contributing to improving public health and livelihoods in the affected areas.

Probaho has installed 117 water filtration plants across 22 districts till date, providing approximately 580,000 liters of clean water to around 283,000 people every day. The project has also made significant strides in providing safe drinking water to people residing in salinity-prone areas of Satkhira, an area that is unfortunately susceptible to natural disasters.

The project has progressed from basic filtration technology to a more advanced reverse osmosis technology, and has recently installed four purification plants in Asashuni, Shyamnagar, and Nalta upazilas with great success. As a result, over 10,000 people now have access to clean drinking water, thereby protecting families in these areas from water-borne diseases. Probaho, on its 14th anniversary, endeavors to extend the availability of purified water to more people in the southern region where salinity and scarcity of clean water are persistent issues.

One of the beneficiaries of Probaho’s efforts, Mr. Shafiqul Islam from Shyamnagar in Satkhira, shared, “There is a severe crisis of safe drinking water in our area. So, we used to drink pond water, which took a heavy toll on our health. But ever since Probaho started supplying pure drinking water, our lives have changed significantly as our medical expense has decreased to a great extent.”

Probaho takes pride in supporting the Bangladesh government’s effort to achieve Sustainable Development Goals. In addition to supporting SDG #6 (Clean Water & Sanitation), it also supports SDGs #3 (Good Health & Well-being) and #10 (Reduced Inequalities). It also has a few successful public-private partnerships, working with Rajshahi City Corporation, Border Guard Bangladesh in St. Martin’s Island, and other organizations.

Probaho’s prolific legacy of 14 years provides the inspiration and platform to move forward with pride and purpose, ensuring a safer today and tomorrow for all.