Team Blue Featured Projects - India

Implementor: Project Well
Country: India
Project Types: Improved Dug Wells
Location: West Bengal

When people drink water contaminated with arsenic they can suffer from cancer of the lung, kidney, liver, skin and bladder. Project Well has developed a self-supporting community-based mitigation program to provide arsenic-safe water to the villagers of West Bengal, India. More than 150,000 people are exposed to arsenic above permissible levels in India. In many cases, the deep wells these villagers use pulls up water that is clear, appearing to be "cleaner" than the traditional dugwells. However, they are laden with naturally occurring arsenic.

Project Well works with villages to create dugwells with modifications that provide clean water free of pathogenic bacteria and arsenic. Project Well starts by coordinating small-group health meetings in villages to discuss the importance of using dugwells and practicing hygiene and sanitation. They impress upon the communities the dangers of drinking the clear, arsenic-contaminated water.

Project Well monitors the dugwells year round - reports and photos are available on the Peer Water Exchange website.

A boy with an earthen filter water pot.