Health, and in turn income and welfare, depend on access to safe drinking water. Although the majority of rural households worldwide obtain drinking water from community water sources, there is limited evidence about how effectively these sources provide safe drinking water. This study combines a randomized experiment with water quality testing to evaluate the impact of a program that provides community deep tubewells in rural Bangladesh. The program reduces exposure to arsenic, a major natural pollutant, but not fecal contamination. Households may use fewer sources with fecal contamination, but any such effects are offset by recontamination through transport and possibly storage. The results suggest that while community deep-tubewell construction programs may reduce exposure to arsenic in Bangladesh, reducing exposure to fecal contamination may require interventions that go beyond community sources.

中文翻译：

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社区水源是否提供安全的饮用水？来自孟加拉国农村随机实验的证据

健康以及收入和福利取决于能否获得安全的饮用水。尽管全世界大多数农村家庭都从社区水源获得饮用水，但关于这些水源如何有效地提供安全饮用水的证据有限。这项研究将随机实验与水质测试相结合，以评估在孟加拉国农村地区提供社区深管井项目的影响。该计划减少了对主要天然污染物砷的接触，但不会减少粪便污染。家庭可能使用较少的粪便污染源，但任何此类影响都可以通过运输和可能储存的再污染来抵消。结果表明，虽然社区深管井建设计划可以减少孟加拉国的砷暴露，