By optimising our sand filters, we have developed a completely new and effective approach to tackling the drinking water problem in Bangladesh. We are therefore avoiding the extraction of groundwater and are trying to convince the government that these simple filters are a better solution than using fossil water – that is, water that cannot be replenished.

Wells in the north-east (Nabigonj District) (2020–2023)

• At the end of 2023, with funding from the Baden-Württemberg Development Cooperation Foundation (SEZ), we had a deep well drilled in the market square of Kanaipur to provide a supply of arsenic-free water. The well is accessible to all villagers and pipes can be connected in all directions.

• At the primary school in Korgaon, the well drilled by AGAPE in 2022 also supplies the surrounding households with arsenic-free water. The high iron content in the well is removed using a simple sand filter.

• At the primary school in Sherpur, a medium-depth well—drilled in 2022 with funding from the Ein-Zehntel Foundation and equipped with a sand filter unit—supplies clean water to the primary school, an adjacent madrasa and nearby households. The school has since been provided with a deep well by the government, and we have relocated our sand filter to the neighbouring madrasa.

In addition, there are deep wells in the north-east (Nabigonj District) in Dashpara (near Kanaipur), Ibrahimnagor, at the primary school in Gujakhair and in Korgaon, which are regularly maintained and repaired by Agape.

And in the north-west (Sirajganj District), there are further deep wells in Goaljani, Dadpur and at the market square in Boalia, which Agape has fitted with a piped water system to enable water to be distributed more widely throughout the villages.

Construction, operation and monitoring of deep wells in Pabna/Sirajganj (2015–2019)

Since 2015, AGAPE has been working to provide the population of Bangladesh with clean, arsenic-free drinking water at key locations. AGAPE has so far constructed these six deep wells in north-western Bangladesh.

• 2019: At Goaljani marketplace
• 2016: At the marketplace Boalia Bazar
• 2016: At the AGAPE-school in Bera-Bathiakara
• 2015: At the trainstation in Sholop
• 2015: At the AGAPE-hospital in Ullapara
• 2011: At the AGAPE-school in Goaljani

The wells are constructed using the simplest of methods: several young men use water pressure to flush out the borehole for the future well casing. Depending on the location, drilling reaches depths of between 150 and 300 metres. In our pipeline projects, the well is equipped with an electric pump, a storage tank and taps. This allows several people to draw water at the same time. Washing hands is also easier (unlike with the hand-operated pumps usually found elsewhere). The quality of the water is checked regularly. Water samples are taken on site at annual intervals and tested for chemical quality at the University of Heidelberg.