TY - JOUR KW - Arsenic KW - Bangladesh KW - India KW - Electrocoagulation KW - Field trial AU - Susan Amrose AU - Siva R.S Bandaru AU - Caroline Delaire AU - Case M van Genuchten AU - Amit Dutta AU - Anupam DebSarkar AU - Christopher Orr AU - Joyashree Roy AU - Abhijit Das AU - Ashok J Gadgil AB -

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. 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.

BT - Science of The Total Environment DA - 08/2014 DO - 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2013.11.074 LA - eng N2 -

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. 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.

PY - 2014 SP - 539 EP - 546 ST - Science of The Total Environment T2 - Science of The Total Environment TI - Electro-chemical arsenic remediation: Field trials in West Bengal VL - 488-489 SN - 00489697 ER -