Removing arsenic from groundwater for the developing world - a review

Abstract

This paper is principally concerned with summarising the experience to date of treating arsenic containing ground/surface water by oxidation, coagulation/precipitation and adsorption processes. Arsenic (As) has been verified through epidemiological evidence as one of the most carcinogenic and toxic substances in surface and ground water. Oxidation, coagulation/precipitation, and adsorption have been widely used in arsenic removal and the study results demonstrated that these technologies can remove arsenic from ground/surface water efficiently; the residual arsenic concentration in the effluent could be in the range of 5-10 μg/l, against the influent arsenic concentration in the range of 10-500 μg/l. However, these technologies need to be surveyed in order to validate the efficiency, cost and maintenance requirments by considering social and economic situations and the availability of the local resources in the developing world.