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Parvin Begum, a housewife from Chandlai, said she could use tap water only for washing clothes.

“We cannot even rinse our mouths with this water. It’s too salty and leaves my hands with blisters as I use it for domestic chores. We have to bring drinking water from far away,” she said.

Mohammad Ali of the same area said the water comes from a very deep layer, so it is warm and salty. “Bathing with it leaves the body feeling itchy,” he added.

Many others, including students, workers and families across the municipality, expressed similar frustrations.

Prof Chowdhury Sarwar Jahan of RU’s Geology and Mining department explained that the salinity found in the area reflects ancient geological conditions.

He also said northern and north-western Bangladesh consist of two types of geological formations: the uplifted Barind Tract and sediment-filled floodplains.

“However, millions of years ago, the sea extended much farther inland than it does today. What is now Chapainawabganj was once situated near a coastline. As the sea retreated over time, salt deposits remained trapped underground,” he said.

He added that such saline water is extremely harmful to health.

Toufikul Islam, executive engineer of Chapainawabganj municipality, said water is usually drawn from 120-ft wells at 24 locations across the town. The three ultra-deep wells, around 1,000 feet deep and installed in wards 8 and 13, are yielding saline and warm water.

“Except for parts of wards 1, 3, and 4, most other areas also have issues with iron and arsenic contamination,” he said. “We often need to test 20-25 sites before identifying a viable source. In the affected wards, we could not find arsenic-free water at regular depths, so we relied on those three ultra-deep wells.”

He also said the municipality continues operating the ultra-deep wells to temporarily ease acute water shortages during peak demand. “Treating saline water is extremely expensive, so we have no such plan yet. We are now working on a project to treat river water and supply it to the affected zones.”

Amit Kumar Sarkar, executive engineer at DPHE in Chapainawabganj, said the ultra-deep pumps were initially meant to explore clean groundwater sources but later proved unsuitable.

“Later, we installed five more test wells in the district outside the municipality, and their salinity was within acceptable limits. This means the problem exists only in specific zones,” he said. “We are working to find alternative solutions to address the issue.”