INTRODUCTION Another name of safe water is life. But the groundwater in 59 districts out of 64 in Bangladesh becomes polluted with the deadly poison arsenic 1 . An estimated 24 million people are directly exposed to this contamination and another 75 million are at risk 2 . Nearly 7,600 patients have been identified and a few deaths due to arsenic-related diseases have also been reported 2-4 . Evidently, Bangladesh is facing probably the largest mass poisoning in history. http://www.orientjchem.org ISSN: 0970-020 X; CODEN: OJCHEG Oriental Journal of Chemistry 2011, Vol. 27, No. (2): Pg. 445-451 Evaluation of Dug-Well as a Safe Water Alternative Option in Case of Arsenic Contamination in Groundwater MD. NAZMUL ISLAM Department of Chemistry, University of Rajshahi, Rajshahi - 6205 (Bangladesh). E-mail: m_nazmul_i@lycos.com (Received: May 11, 2011; Accepted: June 16, 2011) ABSTRACT The investigation aims to evaluate dug-well as a safe water alternative option in case of arsenic contamination in groundwater. The study was carried out with 129 dug-wells in both Rajshahi and Chapai Nawabganj districts of Bangladesh. Total arsenic concentration (As T ) was measured by HG- AAS. 98% of total dug-well water contain arsenic below Bangladesh standard and 54% below WHO standard. Roughly, arsenic concentration decreased with increasing depth of dug-well. 60.5% of dug- well water was safe in terms of fecal coliform (FC) bacteria. Average disinfection period was found to be 30 days. In Simple Bleaching Treatment method, for 3-6, >6-10 and >10 ft depth of water 0.10, 0.15 and 0.25 kg of bleaching powder (having 32% chlorine) was required respectively. Both As T and FC of dug-well water varies seasonally. Measurement of pH, turbidity and odor showed that the overall physical condition of the dug-well water was very good. On an average, 17 families of members 85 were used water from a single dug-well, one-third of which were fully satisfied with the water. Key words: Arsenic, Fecal Coliform, pH, Turbidity, Dug-well, Hand pump, Safe water. Arsenic has long been associated with toxic effects, producing marked impacts on health ranging from acute lethality to chronic effects. Chronic arsenic exposure includes vascular diseases 5 , hypertension 6 , cancer 7 , genotoxicity 8 , diabetes mellitus 9 , etc. In response to the nationwide crisis caused by arsenic in drinking water in Bangladesh, several international and local agencies and NGOs has launched a number of programs. This was implemented by introducing different types of arsenic removal units (Shapla, 3-Pitcher filter,