Villagers sinking a water well by plunging a hollow metal tube into the earth and women scooping water polluted with arsenic. Shiapur, Bangladesh

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Sinking a well by plunging a hollow metal tube up and down into the earth. Women in the foreground are are scooping unsafe water from a pool. Recent tests have shown that arsenic is present in the water supplies of 48,000 of Bangladesh's 68,000 villages in 21 out of the nation's 64 districts. The drinking water of 60 million people - half the population - may be contaminated. Levels of contamination range from 50 parts per billion - five times the maximum level recommended by the World Health Organisation - to 1,000 parts per billion, 100 times the safety limit. This has caused poisoning on a vast scale. Shiapur, Bangladesh

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Size: 3544px × 5387px
Location: Shiapur, Bangladesh
Photo credit: © Neil Cooper / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

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