American International University- Bangladesh (AIUB)

Faculty of Engineering (EEE)

Subject: Engineering Ethics

Course Name: Engineering Ethics Course Code: EEE 3107

Semester: Summer 2019 Item: Midterm Assignment -2
Student Name: Hossain MD. Manik Student ID: 17-33666-1
Department: CSE Section: C

Marking Rubrics (to be filled by Faculty)

Proficient
Category
[4]
Issue/problem to be
considered critically is stated
clearly and described
Explanation of
comprehensively, delivering
issues relevant information
necessary for full
understanding.
Thoroughly (systematically
and methodically) analyzes
Influence of own and others’ assumptions
context and and carefully evaluates the
assumptions relevance of contexts when
presenting a position.
Specific position
(perspective, hypothesis) is
imaginative, considering the
Student’s position complexities of an issue.
Limits of position
(perspective,
(perspective, hypothesis) are
thesis/ acknowledged. Others’
hypothesis) points of view and
assumptions are synthesized
within position (perspective,
hypothesis).
Innovative Extends a novel or unique
Thinking idea, question, format, or
or uniqueness (of product to create new
knowledge or knowledge
idea, claim,
that crosses boundaries.
question etc.)
Conclusions and related
Conclusions and outcomes (consequences and
implications) are logical and
related outcomes
reflect student’s informed
(implications and evaluation and ability to
consequences) place evidence.
Comments:
Good
[3]
Issue/problem to be
considered critically is
stated, described, and
clarified so that
understanding is not
seriously impeded by
omissions.
Identifies own and others’
assumptions and several
relevant contexts when
presenting a position.
Specific position
(perspective,
thesis/hypothesis) considers
the complexities of an issue.
Others’ points of view and
assumptions are
acknowledged within
position (perspective,
hypothesis).
Creates a novel or unique
idea, question, format, or
product.
Conclusion is logically tied
to a range of information,
including opposing
viewpoints; related outcomes
(consequences and
implications) are identified
clearly.
Acceptable
[2]
Issue/problem to be
considered critically is
stated, but description leaves
some terms undefined,
ambiguities unexplored,
boundaries undetermined,
Questions some
assumptions. Identifies
several relevant contexts
when presenting a position.
May be more aware of
others’ assumptions than
one’s own (or vice versa).
Specific position
(perspective, hypothesis)
acknowledges different sides
of an issue.
Experiments with creating a
novel or unique idea,
question, format, or product.
Conclusion is logically tied
to information (because
information is chosen to fit
the desired conclusion);
some related outcomes
(consequences and
implications) are not clear.
Total Marks
(Out of 20):
Unacceptable Secured
[1] Marks
Issue/problem to be
considered critically is stated
without clarification or
description.
Shows an emerging
awareness of present
assumptions (sometimes
labels assertions as
assumptions). Begins to
identify some contexts when
presenting a position.
Specific position
(perspective, hypothesis) is
stated, but is simplistic and
obvious.
Reformulates a collection of
available ideas.
Conclusion is inconsistently
tied to some of the
information discussed;
related outcomes
(consequences and
implications) are
oversimplified.
 Engineering Ethics
Case 1: REMOVING ARSENIC FROM DRINKING WATER IN BANGLADESH

Collected from: Engineering, Social Justice, and Sustainable Community Development: Summary of a
Workshop (2010)

In the opening presentation, doctors Abul Barkat and Abul Hussam described the stark human rights and public
health situation in Bangladesh. Official estimates indicate that 50 percent of the population of some 150 million
is at some risk of arsenic poisoning from groundwater (used for drinking) from tube wells. Thirty-five percent
have no access to arsenic-free drinking water and thus cannot avoid this risk. In this dire situation, poorer
households are at significantly higher risk, and arsenicosis (a disease caused by arsenic poisoning) leads to even
deeper poverty and more social stigma.

Dr. Hussam explained how the SONO filter, which he developed, addresses these issues. There were significant
difficulties—financial, technical, and social—in introducing a system such as the filters. Providing six million
filters to the poor would cost U.S. $300 million, or 10 percent of the annual public improvements development
budget of Bangladesh. In addition, the production, distribution, and necessary follow-up on the use of filters
pose unprecedented management challenges for the country. Social issues include: lack of awareness among
social gatekeepers, such as influential media outlets and employers; widely held myths and misconceptions
among the populace; and a lack of commitment by the government.

Nevertheless, both speakers agreed that there are opportunities for improving management capacity, developing
local solutions, and providing public education about safe drinking water. Field tests have demonstrated the
viability of an integrated arsenic-mitigation program that includes external development partners; the
government of Bangladesh; electronic media; civil society; nongovernmental organizations (NGOs); and
schools that recognize and accept the imperative of producing, deploying, and using SONO filters to increase
access to safe water and thus improve public health and nutrition.

Identify, discuss and analyze following issues from the given case:
(a) Social and Environment Impact of the Case,
(b) Comprehension of the role of engineering in society and ecosystem.
(c) Evaluate the engineering responsibility to public safety.
(d) Discuss the importance of Engineering Solution to support sustainable development.

Case Study on Removing Arsenic from Drinking Water in Bangladesh

 Engineering Ethics

A. Social and Environment Impact of the case:_

Arsenic contamination of groundwater in Bangladesh has been recognized as a major public
problem. The arsenic contamination was first identified in the tubewell water in 1993 in a
northern district of Bangladesh. Tubewells are the main source of drinking water in rural
areas, and except hilly and terrace upland throughout the Bangladesh, the arsenic-
contaminated tubewells are distributed. Fifty million people of Bangladesh were estimated to
be at risk of exposure to arsenic through consumption of water from contaminated tubewells.
Chronic exposure to arsenic causes arsenicosis and may include multi-organ pathologies.
Many of the health effects of chronic toxicity are evident in Bangladesh. Besides
dermatological manifestations, non-communicating diseases including cancer, adverse
pregnancy outcomes, and decreased intelligence quotient among the children are reported to
be increasing. Cancer due to long-term low-dose arsenic exposure through consumption of
contaminated water is now an important concern of Bangladesh as it is being increasingly
reported from arsenic-exposed individuals. Stoppage of consumption of the arsenic-
contaminated water is the mainstay of arsenicosis prevention and case management. At
present, a higher proportion of the people are still consuming arsenic-contaminated water
because of the lack of sustainable arsenic-safe water supply. In providing sustainable arsenic-
safe water options, any option advocated should be cheap, easy to use, locally maintainable,
and owned by the community. In addressing arsenic-related health issues, arsenic-exposed
population needs to be brought under the coverage of the regular surveillance program for
detection and subsequent management of non-communicating diseases and cancers.

Arsenic in groundwater is now a common phenomenon in many countries. The excess amount
of arsenic in drinking water has been reported from various parts of the world, such as
Argentina, Bangladesh, Chile, China, Hungary, India, Mexico, Nepal, Taiwan, and USA. WHO
reported that at least 140 million people of 50 countries are exposed to arsenic through
arsenic-contaminated groundwater at levels above 10 µg/L and a majority of them live in India
and Bangladesh.[1-2]

Bangladesh is located on the largest deltaic land in the world and is largely a low-lying
floodplain with about 75% of the land being less than three meters above the sea level. The Bay
of Bengal lies to the south of Bangladesh with scattered hills in the eastern and northern parts.
In Bangladesh, three large river systems, Ganges, Brahmaputra, and Meghna, with other 230
rivers and their tributaries form an intricate web in the country. Bangladesh has a total land
area of 147,570 square kilometers with a population of about 158.9 million living mainly in
rural-based settlements. Bangladesh is well known for both the surface and underground water
sources. The people in Bangladesh, before the initiation of the tubewells, mainly relied on
surface water sources like rivers, canals, lakes, ponds, and ringwells. Most of these water
sources were microbiologically unsafe, and consequently, diarrheal diseases and cholera were
widely prevalent. Groundwater tapped from only a few meters below the ground surface was
 Engineering Ethics
considered to be microbiologically safe; this led to the temptation to initiate installation of
tubewells with the aim of providing safe water for the population and thus reducing diarrheal
diseases. Though the first tubewell installation scheme in this region was undertaken in 1928, it
took many decades to shift people from their traditional surface water to tubewell water in spite
of intensive public campaign in favor of tubewells. Initially, people did not like tubewell water
because of many traditional beliefs and perceptions. Important of those are unholy water,
distaste, discoloration, etc. However, during the seventies, with mass awareness programs to
change the people behaviors toward the use of tubewell water, there was a sharp increase of
tubewell installation both by the public and private initiation. Ultimately, by nineties, 97% of
the total population of Bangladesh had access to microbiologically safe drinking water through
tubewells. The tubewell initiative, along with the awareness programs, was a great success in
substantially bringing down the occurrence of diarrheal diseases and cholera, but
unfortunately the discovery of arsenic contamination in the tubewell water and its health effects
in the population leads to the reversal of the success story.

B.Comprehension of the role of Engineering in society and ecosystem:

By changing habitat conditions, ecosystem engineers increase niche diversity and have

profound effects on the distribution and abundances of other organisms. ... This understanding
can profitably be used to improve ecosystem-based management and conservation actions.

All sector development activities shall be planned, coordinated and monitored on the basis of a
sector development framework which will be prepared after the formulation of the Policy;

Participation of users in planning, development, operation and maintenance through local

government and community based organizations of the stakeholders;

Development of water supply and sanitation sector through local bodies, public-private sector,
NGOs, CBOs and women groups involving local women particularly elected members (of the
local bodies in the sector development activities);

Gradual community cost-sharing and introduction of economic pricing for services;

Adoption of water supply and sanitation technology options appropriate to specific regions,
geological situations and social groups;

Local Government institutions to bear increasing share of capital cost;

Improvement of existing technologies and conduct of continuous research and development

activities to develop new technologies;
 Engineering Ethics
Social mobilization through publicity campaign and motivational activities using mass media
among other means to ensure behavioral development and change in sanitation and hygiene;
Capacity building at the local/community level to deal effectively with local water and
sanitation problems;

Providing credit facilities for the poor to bear costs of water and sanitation service;
Adoption of necessary measures in urban areas to prevent contamination of ground and surface
water by solid and liquid wastes.

C.Evaluate The Engineering responsibility to public safety;

In order to make the water supply system sustainable water would be supplied at cost.
However, educational and religious institutions will be provided with water as per existing
government rules.

In the future water tariff shall be determined on the basis of the cost of water production,
operation and maintenance, administration and depreciation.

Water supply and Sewerage Authorities (WASAs) shall be responsible for sustainable water
supply in the metropolitan areas where WASAs exist while in other urban areas the institutions
with the help of DPHE shall be responsible for the service.

WASAs, DPHE, BUET and AEC should conduct research and development activities for the
development of appropriate technologies and other developments with special emphasis on
difficult and under-served areas. They should share the results of research and development
and provide technical support to the private sector.

The sanitation system shall have to be self-sufficient and self-sustaining. Sanitary latrine in
every household will be promoted. Along with individual sanitation, public and community
latrines will be set-up by City Corporation/Pourashabha and leased out to private sector for
maintenance.

The City Corporation or Pourashabhas shall be responsible for solid waste collection, disposal
and their management.
The role of women in the process of planning, decision making and management shall be
promoted through their increased representation in management committees/boards
(Pourashava/WASA).

Drainage system in the cities and municipalities will be integrated with the overall drainage
system with the coordination of Ministry of Water Resources.
 Engineering Ethics
D.Discuss the importance of Engineering Solution to support
sustainable development.

Arsenic contamination of groundwater is an alarming problem on a global scale. In

several parts of the world, biogeochemical processes have resulted in dissolution of
naturally occurring As into groundwater.
In present review, we tried to elaborate on different natural and anthropogenic sources of
As in groundwater including its speciation and mobilization pattern in groundwater. We
have also reviewed problem of As contamination in groundwater in different parts of the
world followed by detailed outlook in epidemiology and toxicity mechanisms of As in
animals and humans.
In order to combat arsenic problem, various remediation methods based on conventional,
modern, and hybrid technologies for removal of As in several parts of the world have been
critically reviewed. The merits and demerits of these technologies have been discussed in
detail.
Most of the existing technologies for removal of As involve the direct removal of
Arsenic or converting Arsenite to Arsenate  followed by removal of Arsenate.

The implementation of mitigation options can be facilitated by setting proper guidelines

and to control implementation at appropriate intervals. The awareness of the population is
deemed equally important in maintaining and choosing mitigation.

However, even for well-aware population, the dilemma is often the ability to meet
prohibitive costs versus the wish to improve their situation. For communities public
participation encounters the same constraints.

Governmental and donor financial and logistic assistance may be essential to reduce
arsenicosis. Besides, extensive research should address the understanding of the
occurrence, origin, and distribution pattern of arsenic. The government should monitor
industrial and agricultural activities leading to As pollution.

More technical assistance should be rendered to mining or chemical plants to deal with
sewage and sludge storage and waste treatment. Supervision departments should increase
the frequency of sampling and analysis of the discharge from industrial plants. We
sincerely hope that this paper will be of considerable interest to the readers. The paper
reflects the latest state of the art on understanding of various interdisciplinary facets of the
problem of arsenic in environmental realm, mechanisms of mobilization in groundwater,
biogeochemical interactions, and the measure for remediation.

**As=Arsenic
 Engineering Ethics

References:

1. P. L. Smedley and D. G. Kinniburgh, “A review of the source, behaviour

and distribution of arsenic in natural waters,” Applied Geochemistry, vol. 17,
no. 5, pp. 517–568, 2002.View at: Publisher Site | Google Scholar

2. P. Bhattacharya, G. Jacks, K. M. Ahmed, J. Routh, and A. A. Khan,

“Arsenic in groundwater of the Bengal Delta Plain aquifers in
Bangladesh,” Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology, vol.
69, no. 4, pp. 538–545, 2002.View at: Publisher Site | Google Scholar

3. P. Bhattacharya, D. Chatterjee, and G. Jacks, “Occurrence of arsenic-

contaminated groundwater in alluvial aquifers from delta plains, eastern
India: options for safe drinking water supply,” International Journal of
Water Resources Development, vol. 13, no. 1, pp. 79–92, 1997.View
at: Publisher Site | Google Scholar

4. Arsenic W.H.O. World Health Organization, February 15, 2018.

Available from: http://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/arsenic.
Accessed March 16, 2018.

5. NGOs Arsenic Information & Support Unit (NAISU). Arsenic 2002, An

overview of arsenic issues and mitigation initiatives in Bangladesh. Available
from: http://wilsonweb.physics.harvard.edu/arsenic/remediation/NAISU_200
3.pdf. Accessed March 16, 2018.

6. DPHEArsenic contamination and Mitigation in Bangladesh. Dept of

Public Health Engineering (DPHE). Available
from: https://www.dphe.gov.bd/index.php?
option=com_content&view=article&id=96&Itemid=104. Accessed March
10, 2018.
Engineering Ethics