Earth and Environmental Sciences
Perceptions of Water Quality in Southwestern Bangladesh
Rachel Shumaker
Thesis under the direction of Professor Jonathan M. Gilligan
Increasing stress on Southwestern Bangladesh has raised concerns about the well-being of the many people living in rural villages living in this region. This has led researchers to focus on the primary source of stress: water quality and water scarcity. However, the dynamic nature of the land and people of Bangladesh require a more interdisciplinary approach when exploring perceptions of water quality access to safe drinking water is affected not only by the chemistry of the water, but also the politics governing access to water and the psychology of peopleâs perceptions of drinking water. Lack of reliable year-round drinking water sources, coupled with salinity, arsenic contamination, and conversion of paddy fields to shrimp farms all contribute to water scarcity in coastal regions of Bangladesh. In our study area, we found that most people do not have access to safe drinking water, regardless of social or economic status. Despite the poor quality of the drinking water, most people think their water tastes good, so there is a mismatch in perceptions of both taste and saltiness, and water quality. The perception of water quality is not affected by socio-economic status, religion, or gender, and water security remains a challenge even for the relatively well to do.
Approved:
Jonathan Gilligan, Ph.D.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:VANDERBILT/oai:VANDERBILTETD:etd-07282017-103410 |
| Date | 09 August 2017 |
| Creators | Shumaker, Rachel Lincoln |
| Contributors | Steven Goodbred, Jonathan Gilligan |
| Publisher | VANDERBILT |
| Source Sets | Vanderbilt University Theses |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.library.vanderbilt.edu/available/etd-07282017-103410/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to Vanderbilt University or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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