 |
|
Queen's researchers provide solution to world's worst mass poisoning case
August 29, 2008A solution to the world's worst case of ongoing mass poisoning, linked to rising cancer rates in Southern Asia, has been developed by researchers from Queen's University Belfast.
Currently over 70 million people in Eastern India and Bangladesh, experience involuntary arsenic exposure from consuming water and rice; the main staple food in the region. This includes farmers who have to use contaminated groundwater from minor irrigation schemes.
It is estimated that for every random sample of 100 people in the Bengal Delta, at least one person will be near death as a result of arsenic poisoning, while five in 100 will be experiencing other symptoms.
Now, researchers at the Belfast-based University have created new low-cost technology to provide arsenic-free water to millions of people in South Asia currently exposed to high levels of the poison in groundwater.
Leading an international team, Queen's researchers have developed a trial plant in Kasimpore, near Calcutta, which offers chemical-free groundwater treatment technology to rural communities for all their drinking and farming needs.
The technology is based on recharging a part of the groundwater, after aeration, into a subterranean aquifer (permeable rock) able to hold water. Increased levels of oxygen in the groundwater slow down the arsenic release from the soil. At higher dissolved oxygen levels, soil micro organisms, as well as iron and manganese, reduce the dissolved arsenic level significantly.
Dr Bhaskar Sen Gupta of Queen's, co-ordinator of the project said: "Arsenic poisoning is behind many instances of ill-health in Southern Asia, including a rising number of cancer cases. Developing a low cost method of decontaminating ground water that is laced with high levels of arsenic is a key challenge for sustainable agriculture there.
"While there are some techniques available for treating relatively small quantities of water, there has, until now, been no viable technology available for decontaminating groundwater on a large scale that can ensure safe irrigation and potable water supply.
"This project developed by Queen's is the only method which is eco-friendly, easy to use and deliverable to the rural community user at an affordable cost."
The project is part of the EU-funded Asia Pro Eco Programme which is dedicated to the improvement of environmental performance in Asian economic sectors. Known as TiPOT (Technology for in-situ treatment of groundwater for potable and irrigation purposes), a key part of the project is the establishment of sustainable technology partnerships.
Explaining further, Dr Sen Gupta said: "From its inception we have had the vital support of Indian-based stakeholders, such as village councils and local financial institutions. This has been vital as they are the authorities who monitor the water supply and distribution in rural areas and provide micro-credit to the local farmers.
"With their help, we now have a solution which is transferable to many areas in need across Asia."
The new plant will be maintained and operated by local village technicians. To help apply the technology to other areas in the South Asian region, the World Bank has given a grant of $200,000 to the TIPOT consortium to set up six more subterranean water treatment plants in the Gangetic plains of West Bengal.
Queen's University Belfast
Now, researchers at the Belfast-based University have created new low-cost technology to provide arsenic-free water to millions of people in South Asia currently exposed to high levels of the poison in groundwater.
Leading an international team, Queen's researchers have developed a trial plant in Kasimpore, near Calcutta, which offers chemical-free groundwater treatment technology to rural communities for all their drinking and farming needs.
The technology is based on recharging a part of the groundwater, after aeration, into a subterranean aquifer (permeable rock) able to hold water. Increased levels of oxygen in the groundwater slow down the arsenic release from the soil. At higher dissolved oxygen levels, soil micro organisms, as well as iron and manganese, reduce the dissolved arsenic level significantly.
Dr Bhaskar Sen Gupta of Queen's, co-ordinator of the project said: "Arsenic poisoning is behind many instances of ill-health in Southern Asia, including a rising number of cancer cases. Developing a low cost method of decontaminating ground water that is laced with high levels of arsenic is a key challenge for sustainable agriculture there.
"While there are some techniques available for treating relatively small quantities of water, there has, until now, been no viable technology available for decontaminating groundwater on a large scale that can ensure safe irrigation and potable water supply.
"This project developed by Queen's is the only method which is eco-friendly, easy to use and deliverable to the rural community user at an affordable cost."
The project is part of the EU-funded Asia Pro Eco Programme which is dedicated to the improvement of environmental performance in Asian economic sectors. Known as TiPOT (Technology for in-situ treatment of groundwater for potable and irrigation purposes), a key part of the project is the establishment of sustainable technology partnerships.
Explaining further, Dr Sen Gupta said: "From its inception we have had the vital support of Indian-based stakeholders, such as village councils and local financial institutions. This has been vital as they are the authorities who monitor the water supply and distribution in rural areas and provide micro-credit to the local farmers.
"With their help, we now have a solution which is transferable to many areas in need across Asia."
The new plant will be maintained and operated by local village technicians. To help apply the technology to other areas in the South Asian region, the World Bank has given a grant of $200,000 to the TIPOT consortium to set up six more subterranean water treatment plants in the Gangetic plains of West Bengal.
Queen's University Belfast
Groundwater Current Events and Groundwater News RSSNutrients in water may be a bonus for agriculture
Agriculture producers may find they don't have to bottle their water from the Seymour Aquifer in the Rolling Plains to make it more valuable, according to Texas AgriLife Research scientists.
Urban Trees Enhance Water Infiltration
Global land use patterns and increasing pressures on water resources demand creative urban stormwater management.
Researchers shed new light on catalyzed reactions
Rice University scientists on the hunt for a better way to clean up the stubborn pollutant TCE have created a method that lets them watch molecules break down on the surface of a catalyst as individual chemical bonds are formed and broken.
Burying the greenhouse gas
To prevent global warming, researchers and policymakers are exploring a variety of options to significantly cut the amount of carbon dioxide that reaches the atmosphere.
UD researchers show that plants can accumulate nanoparticles in tissues
Researchers at the University of Delaware have provided what is believed to be the first experimental evidence that plants can take up nanoparticles and accumulate them in their tissues.
'Arid aquaculture' among livelihoods promoted to relieve worsening pressure on world's drylands
"Arid aquaculture" using ponds filled with salty, undrinkable water for fish production is one of several options experts have proven to be an effective potential alternative livelihood for people living in desertified parts of the world's expanding drylands.
Rocks could be harnessed to sponge vast amounts of CO2 from air, says study
Scientists say that a type of rock found at or near the surface in the Mideast nation of Oman and other areas around the world could be harnessed to soak up huge quantities of globe-warming carbon dioxide.
A green future for scrap iron
Take a close look at that cheap piece of scrap iron before you toss it in the trash.
A card-swipe for medical tests
University of Utah scientists successfully created a sensitive prototype device that could test for dozens or even hundreds of diseases simultaneously by acting like a credit card-swipe machine to scan a card loaded with microscopic blood, saliva or urine samples.
Stanford researchers: Global warming is killing frogs and salamanders in Yellowstone Park
Frogs and salamanders, those amphibious bellwethers of environmental danger, are being killed in Yellowstone National Park. The predator, Stanford researchers say, is global warming.
More Groundwater Current Events and Groundwater News Articles
 | Hydraulics of Groundwater (Dover Books on Engineering) by Jacob Bear This text explores the laws and equations governing the flow and storage of groundwater in aquifers. It provides groundwater hydrologists — as well as engineers and planners dealing with the development and management of groundwater resources — with all the necessary tools to forecast the behavior of a regional aquifer system. 1979... |
 | Geochemistry, Groundwater and Pollution, Second Edition (PBK) by C.A.J. Appelo, D. Postma Building on the success of its 1993 predecessor, this 2nd edition of Geochemistry, Groundwater and Pollution has been thoroughly re-written, updated and extended into a complete and authoritative account of modern hydrogeochemistry. Offering a quantitative approach to the study of groundwater quality and the interaction of water, minerals, gases, pollutants and microbes, this book shows how... |
 | Groundwater Hydrology by David Keith Todd, Larry W. Mays Continuing in its forty-year history of providing students and professionals with a thorough grounding in the science and technology of groundwater hydrology, this third edition has been completely updated to reflect the tremendous changes in the field. A true essential reference, this book provides a unified presentation of the subject, treating fundamental principles, methods and problems... |
 | Groundwater by Alan R. Freeze, John A. Cherry A comprehensive presentation of groundwater hydrology that integrates chemistry, physics, geology, and calculus while applying theory to real-world geology. Provides quantitative methods of calculation in groundwater hydrology. Contains sections on transport processes, ground water contamination, well hydraulics, and aquifer yield — including analog and numerical modeling. Covers... |
 | Construction Dewatering and Groundwater Control : New Methods and Applications, 3rd Edition by J. Patrick Powers, Arthur B. Corwin, Paul C. Schmall, Walter E. Kaeck The most up-to-date guide to construction dewatering and groundwater control In the past dozen years, the methods of analyzing and treating groundwater conditions have vastly improved. The Third Edition of Construction Dewatering and Groundwater Control, reflecting the most current technology and practices, is a timely and much-needed overview of this rapidly changing field. ... |
 | Quantitative Hydrogeology: Groundwater Hydrology for Engineers by Ghislain De Marsily FROM THE PREFACE: This book attempts to combine two separate themes: a description of one of the links in the chain of the water cycle inside the earth's crust i.e., the subsurface flow; and the quantification of the various types of this flow, obtained by applying the principles of fluid mechanics in porous media. The first part is the more descriptive, and geological of the two. It deals with... |
| Groundwater and Wells by Fletcher G. Driscoll | |
 | Modeling Groundwater Flow and Pollution (Theory and Applications of Transport in Porous Media) by J. Bear, A. Verruijt |
 | Arsenic in Soil and Groundwater Environment, Volume 9: Biogeochemical Interactions, Health Effects and Remediation (Trace Metals and other Contaminants in the Environment) This volume presents the recent developments in the field of arsenic in soil and groundwater. Arranged into nine sections, the text emphasizes the global occurrences of arsenic in the environment, particularly on its source, pathways, behavior, and effects it has on soils, plants, water, animals, and humans. It also covers the diverse issues of arsenic in the mining environment, arsenic emanating... |
 | Groundwater Geochemistry: A Practical Guide to Modeling of Natural and Contaminated Aquatic Systems by Broder J. Merkel, Britta Planer-Friedrich The second edition of "Groundwater Geochemistry – A practical guide to modeling of natural and contaminated aquatic systems" remains a comprehensive text book offering beginners and advanced modelers alike a minimum theoretical background and a strong focus on the practical solution of geochemical modeling with PHREEQC. The new edition covers the possibility of using the CD-MUSIC concept within... |
| © 2008 BrightSurf.com |