A continuous flow arsenic removal system using solar oxidation

Abstract

It is estimated that over 100 million people worldwide are drinking water contaminated with arsenic. The World Health Organisation (WHO) set the maximum contaminant level for arsenic at 10μg/l in 1996 as it is not only carcinogenic, but is associated with numerous other potentially fatal diseases. An extensive borehole drilling programme started in the 1970s by UNICEF in Bangladesh in order to protect the local population from having to use bacterially contaminated surface waters. However, unknowingly, this caused 'the largest mass poisoning of a population in history' according to the WHO, as the groundwater extraction triggered the release of arsenic from the anaerobic sediments laid down over the years by the rivers Ganges and Brahmaputra in their delta regions.