The government and support organizations have made safety testing of all tube wells a priority, but progress has been slow. Field kits are used to do an initial screening, since they are only accurate at 0 ppb and at levels higher than 100 ppb. Laboratory analysis is done on samples that are 100 ppb and below using atomic absorption spectrophotometry. This requires that samples be transported to a laboratory in Dhaka, the capital city, and the results communicated back to the villages. Testing has been costly and difficult because of the enormous number of wells that need to be tested.
Testers often have a difficult time reaching remote villages due to flooding and poor roads.
Also, there is no coding or database for the tube wells, so it is difficult to keep track of data. After testing, contaminated tube wells are marked red, and safe wells are marked green. However, Dipankar Chakraborti , director of the school of environmental studies at Jadavpur University, Calcutta, India, comments that villagers often continue to drink from contaminated wells after being warned, because they have no alternative water sources. He refers to a village in Bangladesh where 384 out of 390 tube wells were marked red. Chakraborti feels more must be done with rainwater harvesting and the plentiful surface water.