Who are Pioneers of Disaster Preparedness? - Insights from Rainwater Harvesting Dissemination in Bangladesh

Diffusion of Disaster-Preparedness Information by Hearing from Early Adopters to Late Adopters in Coastal Bangladesh

The successful social implementation of a rainwater-harvesting tank can save millions of people in coastal Bangladesh from drinking saline water and health risks. However, previous studies have shown that several potentially effective, innovative disaster-preventive technologies failed to disseminate even after proactive promotional campaigns. People at risk worry about adopting innovative preventive measures because of the uncertainties attached to the new technology, such as its merits, cost, maintenance, durability, social acceptance, etc. Instead of mass media, people rely on social networks to obtain trusted, verified, and personal information. Hearing plays an important role, through which information diffuses from pioneer adopters to late adopters or potential adopters across settlements, starting from the village to district to region. Unlike conventional studies, limited to understanding the regional dimension of diffusion, this study investigated how the information diffuses from pioneer adopters to potential adopters at both the macro-level (e.g., districts, subdistricts, and towns) and micro-level (e.g., villages and neighborhoods). This study was based on field surveys through interviewing 196 innovative rainwater-tank adopters from 30 villages and communities in two subdistricts in coastal Bangladesh. We found that the macro-level pioneer adopters played a critical role in diffusing awareness knowledge, through which people in new villages, neighborhoods, and sub-districts, where mass media and change agents failed to reach, became aware of the existence of the innovative measure. However, macro-adapters alone failed to disseminate the innovation further, as the local communities intend to pay to heed the suggestions and experiences of the local (micro) pioneer adopters to understand the principle and how-to knowledge of the innovation. Information is diffused in the villages and neighborhoods through local pioneer adopters through direct, intimate personal contacts.

Arsenic contamination in rainwater harvesting tanks around Lake Poopó in Oruro, Bolivia: An unrecognized health risk

Drinking water sources used by largely rural and indigenous communities around Lake Poopó in the Bolivian Altiplano are impacted by drought and a combination of natural and anthropogenic mining-related contaminants putting the long-term health and sustainability of these communities at risk. As an alternative drinking water source, 18 rainwater harvesting tanks connected to corrugated iron roofs, each with a first-flush system, were installed in 5 communities around the lake. The water quality of these tanks was monitored over 22 months and compared to alternative unprotected surface and groundwater sources the communities previously relied upon. The rainwater quality was found to be within the Bolivian and World Health Organization (WHO) limits, except for elevated arsenic concentrations two times the recommended health limit (0.01 mg/L). Tracing arsenic concentrations through the rainwater flow-path showed that the elevated arsenic concentrations result from mineral dust particles entering the system when rainwater interacts with the roof catchment, with arsenic leaching out. A leaching test showed that 24 h of contact time between 200 mL of water and <1 g of roof dust is enough to raise the arsenic levels of the water above the Bolivian and WHO limit. Currently, no other research exists evaluating the quality of harvested rainwater in the Bolivian Altiplano for human consumption or the source of arsenic in harvested water. This represents a significant knowledge gap for future development practitioners and programs addressing water security around Lake Poopó and the wider region. As a result, it is strongly recommended to include arsenic as a standard parameter in water quality monitoring of rainwater harvesting projects, especially in active mining regions, and to optimize strategies to minimize roof dust from entering the collection system.