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Electro-chemical arsenic remediation: Field trials in West Bengal

Journal Article · · Science of the Total Environment
 [1];  [1];  [1];  [1];  [2];  [2];  [1];  [2];  [3];  [4]
  1. Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States)
  2. Jadavpur Univ., Kolkata (India)
  3. Kandi Raj College, West Bengal (India)
  4. Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States); Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
+ Show Author Affiliations
Millions of people in rural South Asia are exposed to high levels of arsenic through groundwater used for drinking. Many deployed arsenic remediation technologies quickly fail because they are not maintained, repaired, accepted, or affordable. It is therefore imperative that arsenic remediation technologies be evaluated for their ability to perform within a sustainable and scalable business model that addresses these challenges. We present field trial results of a 600 L Electro-Chemical Arsenic Remediation (ECAR) reactor operating over 3.5 months in West Bengal. These results are evaluated through the lens of a community scale micro-utility business model as a potential sustainable and scalable safe water solution for rural communities in South Asia. We demonstrate ECAR's ability to consistently reduce arsenic concentrations of ~266 μg/L to <5 μg/L in real groundwater, simultaneously meeting the international standards for iron and aluminum in drinking water. ECAR operating costs (amortized capital plus consumables) are estimated as $0.83-$1.04/m3 under realistic conditions. Finally, we discuss the implications of these results against the constraints of a sustainable and scalable business model to argue that ECAR is a promising technology to help provide a clean water solution in arsenic-affected areas of South Asia.
Research Organization:
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC02-05CH11231
OSTI ID:
1823601
Journal Information:
Science of the Total Environment, Journal Name: Science of the Total Environment Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 488-489; ISSN 0048-9697
Publisher:
ElsevierCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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Cited By (7)

Bacterial bioreporter detection of arsenic associated with iron oxides journal January 2018
Adsorption of ng L −1 -level arsenic by ZIF-8 nanoparticles: application to the monitoring of environmental water journal January 2018
Rapid and efficient sequestration of arsenic from contaminated water using hypertolerant Bacillus L-148 sp.: a two-step process journal January 2019
Iron detection and remediation with a functionalized porous polymer applied to environmental water samples journal January 2019
Arsenite removal from groundwater in a batch electrocoagulation process: Optimization through response surface methodology journal October 2018
Arsenite removal from groundwater in a batch electrocoagulation process: Optimization through response surface methodology text January 2018
Arsenite removal from groundwater in a batch electrocoagulation process: Optimization through response surface methodology text January 2018

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Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
Bangladesh
India
arsenic
electrocoagulation
field trial