Visitor Report | Project Well Visit by Ayse Ercumen (UC Berkeley Graduate Student in the School of Public Health) June 20, 2008

I visited the Project Well field site in Maslandpur in June 2008. The manager of field operations, Mr. Dennis, gave me a tour of the project area and answered my questions. He informed that, to date, 34 wells had been installed in Gaighata with 10 more planned for 2009, and 48 in Deganga/Habra1.

The well that I visited was fully functional and in operation, with users coming to collect water during the time I was there. Mr. Dennis informed me that 20 to 25 families share a well, and the wells are especially in demand by families that have arsenic-induced skin lesion cases. Mr. Dennis also pointed out that because the wells tap into shallow aquifers that primarily collect infiltrating rainwater, they may sometimes run dry in the rainless season. Users may have to depend on other water sources during that time, and the volume of water available does affect the number of users. However, records show that only 10% of the wells go completely dry. The well that I looked at had been recently chlorinated at the time of my visit. The sample from the well did not have any turbidity, objectionable taste or odor.