Searching for an optimum solution to the Bangladesh arsenic crisis

Caldwell, Bruce; Caldwell, John C.; S, Mitra; Smith, Wayne

doi:10.1016/s0277-9536(02)00203-4

Cited by 58 publications

(35 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…Policies designed to improve infrastructure are needed to increase, not just access to water but, safe access to safe and reliable water or risk losing the health advantage of having a nearby water source (Caldwell, Caldwell, Mitra, & Smith, 2003;Hunter, Zmirou-Navier, & Hartemann, 2009). Doing so will increase the health of all and the health, safety, education and income of women, the primary suppliers of water to households around the globe.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Safe access to safe water in low income countries: Water fetching in current times

Sorenson

Morssink

Campos

2011

Social Science & Medicine

285

205

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Safe access to safe water in low income countries: Water fetching in current times

Sorenson

Morssink

Campos

2011

Social Science & Medicine

285

205

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“…Several studies have found that villagers listed convenience as the most important attribute of a water treatment system. [38][39] In addition, several studies report household filters being abandoned because they required too much attention and maintenance. [38,40] Based on these findings in the literature, we have developed an engineering design for a community-scale ARUBA-based water treatment center.…”

Section: A Possible Approach To Implementationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Arsenic remediation of drinking water using iron-oxide coated coal bottom ash

Mathieu

Gadgil

Addy

et al. 2010

Journal of Environmental Science and Health, Part A

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We describe laboratory and field results of a novel arsenic removal adsorbent called 'Arsenic Removal Using Bottom Ash' (ARUBA). ARUBA is prepared by coating particles of coal bottom l fired power plants, with iron (hydr)oxide. The coating process is * Address correspondence to Ashok Gadgil, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 1Cyclotron Rd MS 90R3058, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA; Phone: Email: ajgadgil@lbl.gov. 3 simple and conducted at room temperature and atmospheric pressure. Material costs for ARUBA are estimated to be low (~$0.08 per kg) and arsenic remediation with ARUBA has the potential to be affordable to resource-constrained communities. ARUBA is used for removing arsenic via a dispersal-and-removal process, and we envision that ARUBA would be used in community-scale water treatment centers. We show that ARUBA is able to reduce arsenic concentrations in This makes it easy to determine the amount of ARUBA required to treat a groundwater source when its arsenic concentration is known and less than 1600 ppb. Storing contaminated groundwater for two to three days before treatment is seen to significantly increase ARUBA's AAD. ARUBA can be separated from treated water by coagulation and clarification, which is expected to be less expensive than filtration of micron-scale particles, further contributing to the affordability of a community-scale water treatment center.

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“…Treating surface water generally involves boiling; however, high fuel prices make treating all drinking water impractical (though surface water is commonly used for cooking) (14). In addition, boiling does not remove most chemical contaminants, and surface waters typically contain high levels of agricultural run-off including synthetic pesticides and fertilizers.…”

Section: Source Switchingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…At the on-set of the crisis, several studies suggested that all shallow tubewells in Bangladesh should be tested and painted red if contaminated or painted green if safe (17,14). Campaigns were conducted in the early 2000s to mark each tubewell.…”

Section: Source Switchingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Caldwell et al (2003) state that both fetching water from outside family compounds and maintaining a household water treatment unit, "reverses the process of relieving Bangladeshi women of some of their onerous workload." Therefore, minimizing the distance to safe water sources and/or providing water delivery is important for the success of a community water treatment center.…”

Section: Strategy 3: Minimize Distance To Safe Watermentioning

confidence: 99%

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Design of a rural water provision system to decrease arsenic exposure in Bangladesh

Mathieu

2009

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Researchers at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory have invented ARUBA (Arsenic Removal Using Bottom Ash) a material that effectively and affordably removes high concentrations of arsenic from contaminated groundwater. The technology is cost-effective because the substrate-bottom ash from coal fired power plants-is a waste material readily available in South Asia. During fieldwork in four sub-districts of Bangladesh, ARUBA reduced groundwater arsenic concentrations as high as 680 ppb to below the Bangladesh standard of 50 ppb. Key results from three trips in Bangladesh and one trip to Cambodia include (1) ARUBA removes more than half of the arsenic from contaminated water within the first five minutes of contact, and continues removing arsenic for 2-3 days; (2) ARUBA's arsenic removal efficiency can be improved through fractionated dosing (adding a given amount of ARUBA in fractions versus all at once); (3) allowing water to first stand for two to three days followed by treatment with ARUBA produced final arsenic concentrations ten times lower than treating water directly out of the well; and (4) the amount of arsenic removed per gram of ARUBA is linearly related to the initial arsenic concentration of the water. Through analysis of existing studies, observations, and informal interviews in Bangladesh, eight design strategies have been developed and used in the design of a low-cost, community-scale water treatment system that uses ARUBA to remove arsenic from drinking water. We have constructed, tested, and analyzed a scale version of the system. Experiments have shown that the system is capable of reducing high levels of arsenic (nearly 600 ppb) to below 50 ppb, while remaining affordable to people living on less than $2 per day. The system could be sustainably implemented as a public-private partnership in rural Bangladesh.3

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Searching for an optimum solution to the Bangladesh arsenic crisis

Cited by 58 publications

References 4 publications

Safe access to safe water in low income countries: Water fetching in current times

Safe access to safe water in low income countries: Water fetching in current times

Arsenic remediation of drinking water using iron-oxide coated coal bottom ash

Design of a rural water provision system to decrease arsenic exposure in Bangladesh

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