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A Simple Chemical Free Arsenic Removal Method For Community Water Supply PDF
A Simple Chemical Free Arsenic Removal Method For Community Water Supply PDF
Environmental Pollution
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/envpol
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a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t
Article history: This report describes a simple chemical free method that was successfully used by a team of European
Received 27 May 2009 and Indian scientists (www.qub.ac.uk/tipot) to remove arsenic (As) from groundwater in a village in West
Received in revised form Bengal, India. Six such plants are now in operation and are being used to supply water to the local
3 September 2009
population (www.insituarsenic.org). The study was conducted in Kasimpore, a village in North 24 Par-
Accepted 11 September 2009
ganas District, approximately 25 km from Kolkata. In all cases, total As in treated water was less than the
WHO guideline value of 10 mg L 1. The plant produces no sludge and the operation cost is 1.0 US$ per day
Keywords:
for producing 2000 L of potable water.
Arsenic
West Bengal Ó 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Chemical free treatment
Community water supply
0269-7491/$ – see front matter Ó 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2009.09.014
3352 B. Sen Gupta et al. / Environmental Pollution 157 (2009) 3351–3353
Time: 24 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 …
Notes:
Approximate delivery/ infiltration rate: 2,7 m3/h
3
Approximate delivery period/ delivery volume: 1,5 h QD = 4000 L = 4 m
3
Approximate infiltration period/ infiltration volume: 0,75 h QINF = 2000 L = 2 m
Approximate KE = QD/QINF: 2,0 [-]
Delivery/Adsorption-Phase Infiltration/Oxidation-Phase
water water
flow direction flow direction
(reduced groundwater) oxygen-rich infiltrationwater
oxygen O2
grain grain
Adsorption of As(III)
Adsorption of Fe(II) on grain or on ferric hydroxide
ferric hydroxide (Fe(OH)3) Oxidation of As(III) to As(V),
(e.g.ferric arsenate FeAsO4)
Oxidation of Fe(II) to Fe(III)
(e.g.ferric hydroxide (Fe(OH)3))
Fig. 4. A view of the site before and after installation of the treatment plant.
in Fig. 3. The method is very effective in reducing the concentration guideline value of 10 mg L 1. The plant produces no sludge and the
of As below 10 mg L 1. The main advantage of this process is that operation cost is 1.0 US$ per day for producing 2000 L of potable
there is no sludge handling cost. The pictures of the site before and water.
after installation are shown in Fig. 4.
References
3. Conclusions
Carbonell-Barrachina, A.A., Signes-Pastor, A.J., Vazquez-Araffljo, L., Burlo, F., Sen
Employing this technology, the team has installed six plants in Gupta, B., 2009. Presence of arsenic in agricultural products from arsenic-
West Bengal, India, for supplying potable water to rural commu- endemic areas and strategies to reduce arsenic intake in rural villages. Molec-
ular Nutrition and Food Research 53, 531–541.
nities using locally available components (www.insituarsenic.org). www.qub.ac.uk/tipot
In all cases, total As in water samples was less than the WHO www.insituarsenic.org