An Efficient Treatment System for Arsenic Removal from Groundwater

Abstract

Consumption of water contaminated with arsenic causes acute and chronic health effects. The purpose of the present work is to develop a simple and economical procedure for removal of arsenic from potable waters. We analyzed the arsenic concentration in several sources drinking water from Bijar county, Iran. An optimized arsenic removal unit was proposed. and an inductively coupled plasma was used for measurements. For optimization of such removal unit, effects of different parameters including adsorbent dose, pH, contact time, initial concentration and interfering ions on the removal of arsenic from groundwater were standardized. Results revealed that the average arsenic concentration in the studied area was more than the national standard limit, ranging from 11.17 to 2167.98 µg/L. Based on our results, the reverse osmosis (RO) could be suggested as the best and optimum method with 98% eff iciency. The results of the health risk assessment of arsenic for residents during the study period showed that the groundwater resources were severely contaminated with arsenic and could cause carcinogenesis problems for the population in the studied area.