title: Arsenic removal from groundwater and its safe containment in a rural environment: validation of a sustainable approach.
abstract: Of all the naturally occurring groundwater contaminants, arsenic is by far the most toxic. Any large-scale treatment strategy to remove arsenic from groundwater must take into consideration safe containment of the arsenic removed with no adverse ecological impact. Currently, 175 well-head community-based arsenic removal units are in operation in remote villages of the Indian subcontinent. Approximately 150,000 villagers collect arsenic-safe potable water everyday from these units. The continued safe operation of these units has amply demonstrated that use of regenerable arsenic-selective adsorbents is quite viable in remote locations. Upon exhaustion, the adsorbents are regenerated in a central facility by a few trained villagers and reused. The process of regeneration reduces the volume of disposable arsenic-laden solids by nearly 2 orders of magnitude. Finally, the arsenic-laden solids are contained on well-aerated coarse-sand filters with minimum arsenic leaching. This disposal technique is scientifically more appropriate than dumping arsenic-loaded adsorbents in the reducing environment of landfills as currently practiced in developed countries including the United States.
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, USA.
authors.forename: Sudipta
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sarkar
authors.forename: Lee M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Blaney
authors.forename: Anirban
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gupta
authors.forename: Debabrata
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ghosh
authors.forename: Arup K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Sengupta
mesh_terms: D001151:Arsenic / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000302:isolation & purification*
chemical_list: D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D001151:Arsenic