Bangladesh is a South Asian small country having a huge population. Sundarbans coastal region of Bangladesh is really disaster vulnerable due to its geographic location. Our proposed project site is the Sundarbans coastal region of Bangladesh that is Banishanta union under Dacope sub district of Khulna district in Bangladesh. The Sundarbans is the single largest mangrove forest in the world which is a UNESCO declared Natural World Heritage site and RAMSAR wetland site. Almost 3.5 million coastal people depend on its natural resources. Majority of the population of this region are poor and their education level is not satisfactory.

There are so many social and environmental problems existed in this region like Poverty, Cyclone, Sea level rise and Salinity intrusion, River Bank Erosion, Drinking Water, Electricity, Change of Land use Pattern etc.

Drinking water scarcity is the most alarming social problem in the coastal region of Bangladesh. Now it is turning into brackish to saline gradually. Climate Change exacerbates the situation due to sea level rise, erratic rainfall, high rate of evaporation and various disastrous events like cyclone and flood, increased down-steam saline water flow instead of up-steam freshwater water flow, shrimp farming etc. So, before monsoon starts, people in coastal area travel up to 3-4 km to fetch water, which is not always sufficiently safe enough to drink due to saline and sediment contamination in shallow and deep aquifers. Pond (surface water) and rainwater is the main source of drinking water for the coastal people of Bangladesh. But the number of freshwater ponds is not enough for the community to meet up their drinking water demand and number of ponds has been decreased due to shrimp farming and household making land extension. In the dry season water level of the ponds goes down and sometimes get dried. Coastal communities frequently suffer from waterborne diseases because of drinking pond water without purification. Poor coastal communities have not enough facilities to reserve the rain water. Communities are not well aware about their health and sanitation and frequently they suffer from waterborne diseases. Communities are not financially capable enough to install water purification system by themselves. Day by day this problem is becoming bad to worst.

Bangladesh Environment and Development Society (BEDS) took some initiatives to solve this ever growing problem. BEDS re-excavated three ponds of the Sundarbans region to preserve rainwater by engaging local community. Then BEDS installed three Pond Sand and Filter system including solar energy to pull water from the pond to the pond sand and filter system. BEDS also installed two Reverse Osmosis Systems with Water ATM to ensure the quality of the water and proper management and sustainability of the system. Among the three Solar Pond Sand and filter system (SPSF), quality of water is improved of one SPSF with Reverse Osmosis System. But water of two other Solar Pond Sand and filter systems is yet to be up to the mark due to salinity. So, BEDS would like to install one more Reverse Osmosis Systems with water ATM for serving the better quality water to the villagers. If this system is installed, nearly 1500 villagers will get access to safe drinking water. This activity will directly assist to achieve the (SDGs) Sustainable Development Goals (Goal no. 06) and Bangladesh Governments Vision 2021.