A three-day long International Workshop on "Technologies for Arsenic Removal from Drinking Water" was held at the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), Dhaka, Bangladesh. The workshop was jointly organized by International Training Network (ITN) Centre for Water Supply and Waste Management at BUET and the Environment and Sustainable Development (ESD) Programme and International Network for Water, Environment and Health (INWEH) of the United Nations University (UNU), Tokyo, Japan.

The workshop was inaugurated by the Deputy Minister for Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives (LGRD) Mr. Saber Hossain Chowdhury while BUET Vice-Chancellor Professor Dr. Nooruddin Ahmed chaired the inaugural session.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Saber Hossain Chowdhury described arsenic contamination of drinking water as a major problem facing the country. The minister called for collective efforts of the private sector, NGOs and international agencies to work side-by-side with the government to meet this challenge. He also suggested raising awareness among the rural population about the arsenic problem and urged the scientists and the researchers to find out proper technological options for mitigation of arsenic problems in the country.

The Vice-Chancellor stated that treatment of arsenic-contaminated water is a highly specialized subject because of its very low acceptable levels required in drinking water. Additionally, it is indeed a challenging task to take this specialized technology to the rural communities at an affordable cost. BUET has given due importance to this problem and teamed up with reputed universities of the world to identify the causes of arsenic contamination, assess the magnitude of the problem and find remedial measures. He stressed that achievement of success in research alone was not enough and that the benefit of research must reach to the end users in the community. Professor Dr. M. Feroze Ahmed, Head of Civil Engineering Department, BUET and Project Director, ITN-Bangladesh, Dr. Zafar Adeel, Academic Programme Officer, ESD, UNU and Professor Dr. M. Mujibur Rahman, BUET highlighted the various aspects of arsenic contamination of drinking water on the occasion.

This workshop marked the completion of a two-year cooperative project between UNU and BUET to systematically evaluate treatment technologies for arsenic removal. The experts at BUET undertook extensive laboratory research, followed by field testing of the technologies. Ten households in affected villages were selected to test the selected technologies at a pilot-scale.

Researchers, academicians and entrepreneurs working on arsenic removal technologies, representatives from different international organizations and professionals with practical work experience in arsenic problem areas participated at the workshop. Some 21 papers were presented in four technical sessions with nearly 125 local and foreign experts from various countries took active part in the workshop.

The workshop provided an update of the technological developments in arsenic removal and the challenges and potential problems of wide-scale application of these treatment technologies were thoroughly discussed. Most of the technologies used in Bangladesh were discussed at length during the workshop. The limitations and problems associated with different treatment technologies were also discussed. The major points discussed in the workshop are summarized as below:

All the papers presented at the workshop were edited and published
in a book entitled "Technologies for Arsenic Removal from Drinking Water."
This book is available in printed form from BUET and in electronic form at
the UNU website.

1. Arsenic in drinking water is a problem of great public health concern and needs to be urgently addressed through safe water supply.
2. Large-scale implementation of proven safe and effective arsenic removal technologies along with alternative source based technologies is needed in affected areas.
3. Involvement of the general public (end-users) in the design, installation, operation and maintenance of technologies is crucial for sustained water supply in rural condition. Acceptability of any given technology by the end-user is a critical factor in its success.
4. Assessment and evaluation of all household and community level technologies need to be expedited to broaden the range of technological options for the end-users.
5. Evaluation of any technology should be carried out on a statistically representative sample size taking into consideration of possible variation of water quality in different areas of Bangladesh.
6. Further studies to understand the leaching characteristics of arsenic contaminated sludge and arsenic rich media are needed.
7. Strengthening of inter-organizational and international cooperation in arsenic mitigation is essential.
8. The possibility of biological remediation of arsenic contamination should also be explored.