WASA Dhaka (Water and Sewerage Authority, Dhaka) responsible for water supply and sewerage network in Dhaka city. It is a semi-autonomous organisation under the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development. Established in 1963, it is managed by a board and headed by a chairman. Before its establishment, Dhaka Municipality and the Department of Public Health Engineering provided water supply services.

At present, the WASA Dhaka has the responsibility of providing pure and safe drinking water to city dwellers on a regular and continuous basis and disposing sewer regularly. Water and sewer rates are collected from consumer households and establishments. It supplies water through its Water Works at Chadni Ghat and 116 deep tubewells. In the mid-1990s, it supplied about 94 million gallons of water per day against a requirement of estimated 160 million gallons. Piped water supply is available to about 60% of the city population. But the city dwellers often find that the water is contaminated and needs boiling at home for drinking. Because of leaks in pipeline, imperfect water taps and misuse, Dhaka WASA incurs a system loss estimated at around 45%. Also, the water supply falls short of demand in the dry months because of diminished underground water level. [Sharmin Naaz]