In addition to the serious controversy of the war in Iraq, the Bush administration also stirred up a controversy concerning Clinton’s proposal on the acceptable quantity of arsenic in drinking water. Under the Clinton administration, after a study by the Environmental Protection Agency declared that arsenic could have high risks of being carcinogenic. In 2001, the George W. Bush administration decided to suspend the standards for arsenic in potable water. When this occurred, public opinion and environmentalists launched a set of public debates in order to raise social awareness about the negative impacts on the health of US citizens. After a while, President Bush changed his mind and decided to go back to the arsenic benchmarks proposed by the Clinton administration. While American citizens were preoccupied for their health, they had apparently forgotten that the level of arsenic in the water drank by the populations in Africa or South Asia was much more alarming. A special water detective decided to investigate the case of arsenic in Bangladesh and managed to come up with interesting responses after numerous studies.

The attention of the public nonetheless shifted in that direction when in 2002, the World Health Organization described the situation of Bangladesh as  “the world’s largest mass poisoning of a population in history” (Source: http://www.miller-mccune.com/science/charles-harvey-water-detective-20153/). The local population suffered from skin problems and elevated risk of contracting skin, liver or kidney cancer in the next decade. The situation in Bangladesh combined with the American controversies instigated scientists and scholars to investigate further into the question of arsenic and potable water. Charles f. Harvey, an MIT professor, of environmental engineering decided to investigate further into the matter by trying to understand the causes of such a high concentration of arsenic.  After receiving a grant from the National Science Foundation, Harvey, also nicknamed the water detective, decided to focus on the area of Mushiganj in Bangladesh. After various analysis done on location, Harvey discovered that arsenic concentration reached their highest point at a depth of around 30 meters under the ground; “unfortunately, the same level at which many tube well drew their drinking water” (Source: http://www.miller-mccune.com/science/charles-harvey-water-detective-20153/). He decided to ask for the collaboration of his students from MIT in order to solve the mystery.

After numerous observations, Harvey and his staff realized that rice fields where most of the population worked, where filtering arsenic out of the water. After having tested the rice field water, Harvey came to the realization that the water was actually clean. After a chemical analysis of the underground reservoirs, the MIT professor came to the realization that “ water from the manmade ponds was seeping into the ground, carrying organic carbon. Once the organic material was deep underground, bacteria broke it down, usin iron oxide and releasing arsenic. Due to a lack of funding, technical problems and the complexity of the study, it took seven years for the team of experts to come to these useful conclusions.  Harvey’s discovery marks an important step for Bangladesh but could also serve to the sustainable development done in other countries suffering from similar problems. By raising awareness, the water detective also forced the government in Bangladesh to take responsibility and respond to this issue of contaminated water. The country’s financial minister, Abul Maal Abdul Muhith, publicly promised “that his government would the nation arsenic free by 2013” (Source: http://www.miller-mccune.com/science/charles-harvey-water-detective-20153/). While for now this remains a simple promise, for the future there is hope of an actual concrete sustainable strategy.

Charles Harvey, the water detective, proved that with the necessary drive and motivation, a single individual can make a real difference. His contribution is forcing the world of international aid and development to face the water problems in Bangladesh. Harvey is still committed to making a difference in Bangladesh and wants to continues research in order to ameliorate the conditions of the people in Bangladesh.