Arsenic, iron and chloride in drinking water at primary school, Satkhira, Bangladesh

Safe water is essential for all living things. Globally, a good fraction of school-aged children, especially in the developing countries children are suffering from several water-borne diseases. In this study, potable water supplies for primary school children were examined at Satkhira district, Bangladesh to ensure arsenic-free drinking water. In 240 randomly selected tube wells water of the primary schools were monitored from the seven Upazilas in Satkhira district, Bangladesh. The metal content, especially arsenic and iron in the tube wells water were analyzed by atomic absorption spectroscopy. Results indicate that arsenic content was exceeded the World Health Organization (WHO) guideline value maximum contaminated level (10 μg/L) in 49% of the tube wells water and reached up to 167.9 μg/L. The level of iron and chloride content was in the tube wells water from 10.01 to 13479.6 μg/L and 29.3–9987.01 mg/L, respectively. The 49% tube wells (118 out of 240) chloride and 45% tube wells (110 out of 240) iron content were exceeded by the Drinking Water Quality Standards of Bangladesh. The drinking water parameters especially arsenic at Satkhira district did not meet the requirement of the WHO drinking water quality guideline or the Drinking Water Quality Standards of Bangladesh. The obtained data were treated for estimating chronic daily intake (CDI) and Hazard Quotient (HQ). The HQ values were >1 for arsenic in the tube wells water of seven Upazilas at Satkhira district. Lifetime drinking of arsenic-contaminated water may trigger cancer risk to the human health.