According to the Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP) Report of 2020, the proportion of Bangladesh’s population with access to safely managed water is at 58.5%. Despite progress on overall improved water coverage and achieving the MDG water target, access to safe water for all remains a challenge. Only 15% of the population is under piped water supply – 2.9% of which are in the poorest quantile. Contamination of water is also of particular concern, with 86% of the poorest households showing E. coli contamination along with 16.7% of the population consuming arsenic water.

58.5%

of the population have access to safely managed water

Sokhina Khatun (55) carrying water to clean utensils. The water they get from the tube well is salty and undrinkable. Shamnagar, Shatkhira, Bangladesh. November 2020
Image: WaterAid/ Fabeha Monir

15%

of the population is under piped water supply

A woman comes to wash her clothes with the water from a pond near the tea garden at the Sreepur Tea Estate, Jaintia, Sylhet, Bangladesh, February 2017. The community's shallow, unsafe ringwell is located next to the pond.
Image: WaterAid/ Abir Abdullah

86%

poorest household’s water contaminated with E. coli

The old, unsafe water source, Kewachora tea garden, Sylhet, Bangladesh 2011.
Image: WaterAid/ GMB Akash/ Panos

Climate impact on water

Bangladesh stands as the 7th most vulnerable country to climate impact. Frequent floods, cyclones, tidal surges etc. affects freshwater supplies with deeply entrenched saline intrusion in coastal communities – leading to negative health and economic outcomes

Explore climate impact on water
Person not identified. Gabura, Shyamnagar, Satkhira, Khulna, Bangladesh. February 26, 2021
Image: WaterAid/ Drik/ Suman Paul

Climate and its impact on water isn't exclusive to the coastal regions of Bangladesh. In the hilly north-eastern Bangladesh, climate events damage soil, affecting agricultural productivity.

Close up of soil that has had water spilt onto it. Tahirpur Border area, Bangladesh. 23 March 2021
...we cannot grow seedlings, the land is increasingly getting harder, (and) there is not enough water...
Tansen Sangma, Farmer, Tahirpur

Check the following video to understand why the climate crisis is a water crisis:

Water quality and safety are persistent issues. Discharge of domestic wastewater and seepage of onsite sanitation facilities continue be real threats, with unimproved sanitation, unfavourable soil conditions and small distances between pit latrines and tubewells in many rural areas compromising water quality. Alongside, over-extraction of groundwater has been leading to a sharp decline of the water table – around 3m/year for Dhaka city, and 50-100 cm/year in Bangladesh on average.