Arsenic Removal from Drinking Water Ultrafiltration Membrane Assisted Process

Introduction

Arsenic (As) is known to be a very toxic element and a carcinogen to human. Even a trace amount of arsenic can be harmful to human health. The World Health Organizations (WHOs) current provisional guideline for arsenic in drinking water is 10 ppb. In India, states like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhnad, West Bengal, Assam, Manipur, mainly in Ganga-Meghna-Brahmaputra (GMB) plain covering an area of about 569749 sq km with a population of over 500 million have reported serious illnesses due to presence of arsenic.

The arsenic removal from drinking water by physicochemical process provides process for decontamination of water with respect to arsenic. BARC developed know how of ultrafiltration (UF) based membrane technology for water decontamination with respect to microbiological contamination at both domestic and community scale is available for transfer separately. The present technology is a novel Ultrafiltration (UF) membrane assisted physicochemical process for removal of arsenic from ground/surface water to make the water safe for drinking.

Salient features

• Simple and rapid
  
• Adoptable at both domestic and community level
  
• Capability of high decontamination - Product water not only free from arsenic but also free from secondary contaminants like iron, manganese and microorganisms.
  
• Can operate without electricity
  
• No specific requirement for waste disposal
  
• Cost effective
  

Applications

• Removal of arsenic from ground/surface water to provide safe drinking water free from primary contaminant like arsenic as well as secondary contaminants like iron and microorganisms.
  
• Technology can be adopted at both domestic and community level
  

For further information please contact :

Bhabha Atomic Research Centre,
Trombay, Mumbai- 400 085
Tel : 091-022-25505337/25593897
Fax : 091-022-25505151
Email : headttcd@barc.gov.in