Changed handwashing habit

a concern for overconsumption of water during the COVID-19 pandemic in Bangladesh

Abstract

Mohammad Lutfur Rahman¹ Abstract People's handwashing with water and soap regularly was one of the most efficient ways to stop the transmission of infection during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, water overuse during handwashing may put enormous pressure on the already overstretched groundwater resources. Therefore, this study aimed to analyze how behavioral changes can affect water supply and also identified the most influential factors of water consumption during the COVID-19 pandemic. A standardized questionnaire (both paper-based and online) was developed to collect data from the participants living in Dhaka (Mirpur; Section 10 to 12) Bangladesh. The purposive sampling method was used to collect the data. After data processing, a total of 388 valid responses were considered for the analysis. This study found that during the COVID-19 pandemic, handwashing frequency was significantly higher (M=2.57) than participants' handwashing frequency (M=1.54; P<0.05) before the COVID-19 pandemic, handwashing duration during the pandemic (M=2.39) was also significantly increased compared with participants' handwashing frequency (M=1.37; p<0.05) before the pandemic period, participants' hand scrubbing duration during the COVID-19 pandemic (M=2.22) was also higher than participants' hand scrubbing duration (M=1.38; p<0.05) before the COVID-19 pandemic, participants' tendency of washing hands after returning home from outside (M=2.85) has increased during the COVID-19 pandemic compared with participants' tendency of washing hands after returning home from outside (M=2.32; p<0.05) before the COVID-19 pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic significantly affected the practice of washing hands after sneezing during the pandemic (M=2.38) than before the pandemic (M=1.47; p<0.05). A significant positive association was also found between participants' water consumption level and behavioral changes. The results indicated an increase in the overall tendency to use more water. To ensure the urban water supply system is resilient in such pandemic situations, it is important to understand the aspects that are connected to water usage and using water with utmost sincerity.