Arsenic, manganese and aluminum contamination in groundwater resources of Western Amazonia (Peru)

Abstract

This paper presents a first integrated survey on the occurrence and distribution of geogenic contaminants in groundwater resources of Western Amazonia in Peru. An increasing number of groundwater wells have been constructed for drinking water purposes in the last decades; however, the chemical quality of the groundwater resources in the Amazon region is poorly studied. We collected groundwater from the regions of Iquitos and Pucallpa to analyze the hydrochemical characteristics, including trace elements. The source aquifer of each well was determined by interpretation of the available geological information, which identified four different aquifer types with distinct hydrochemical properties. The majority of the wells in two of the aquifer types tap groundwater enriched in aluminum, arsenic, or manganese at levels harmful to human health. Holocene alluvial aquifers along the main Amazon tributaries with anoxic, near pH-neutral groundwater contained high concentrations of arsenic (up to 700μg/L) and manganese (up to 4mg/L). Around Iquitos, the acidic groundwater (4.2≤pH≤5.5) from unconfined aquifers composed of pure sand had dissolved aluminum concentrations of up to 3.3mg/L. Groundwater from older or deeper aquifers generally was of good chemical quality. The high concentrations of toxic elements highlight the urgent need to assess the groundwater quality throughout Western Amazonia.

Arsenite Depletion by Manganese Oxides: A Case Study on the Limitations of Observed First Order Rate Constants

“…Elevated As and Mn concentrations are frequently correlated in groundwater [22,[27][28][29][30][31][32]. Concentrations of As and Mn in these studies were as high as 1340 µg/L [28] and 4000 µg/L [27], respectively. An aggregation of many studies shows that Mn contamination (>400 µg/L) typically occurs in more shallow groundwater than As contamination (>10 µg/L) [25].…”

Graphene Oxide–ZnO Nanocomposites for Removal of Aluminum and Copper Ions from Acid Mine Drainage Wastewater

“…Among these methods, adsorption offers several advantages like flexible design and operation, high removal efficiency, cost-effectiveness and easy regeneration of the adsorbents [ 3 , 7 ]. Thus, several materials have been used for metals adsorption, such as zeolites [ 10 , 11 ], activated carbons [ 12 , 13 ], biochars [ 14 , 15 ], biomaterials [ 16 ], polymers [ 17 ], metal oxides [ 18 , 19 ], nanomaterials [ 20 , 21 , 22 ], and others. So far, nanomaterials have come to the forefront mainly due to their high specific surface area, which is known as one of the main factors determining adsorption magnitude [ 7 , 23 ].…”

Removal of aluminum from alkaline aqueous solution by adsorption on Degussa P25 TiO2 and vermiculite concrete‐supported ferric oxyhydroxide

“…The prohibitively high Al concentration in surface water, spring water, or groundwater sources poses a serious health concern when the water is used for domestic water supply . Particularly alarming situations appear when prohibitive Al concentrations are observed in drinking water.…”