Arsenic removal from ground water by ion exchange resin: a column study

Abstract

Arsenic contamination in groundwater and its consequences to the human health has been reported as one of the world’s biggest natural groundwater calamity to the mankind. People in these affected states have chronically exposed to drinking Arsenic contaminated hand tube-wells water. One of the urgent steps towards mitigation of arsenic contamination in groundwater is supply of arsenic free or arsenic safe water. The source of arsenic is geological. The contamination mostly comes from aquifers 20-80 meters below ground. The polluted water has high iron, magnesium and bi-carbonates with low sulphate, fluoride and chloride levels. Some factors like malnutrition, poor economic/socio conditions, illiteracy, and food habits with constant use of arsenic-contaminated water for prolonged periods have aggravated Arsenic toxicity. Various technologies have been used to remove arsenic from the water, such as adsorption, ion exchange, reverse osmosis, coprecipitation, lime softening (V), oxidation-reduction, and solidification/liquid separation and physical exclusion. . Long-term exposure to arsenic in drinking water causes bladder, lung, and skin cancers. Arsenic (As) pollution in water (groundwater) is one of the world's most pressing environmental issues. So Objective of this study was to prepare a filtering media to treat ground water containing arsenic to reduce as per WHO drinking water standard for Arsenic (10μg/L). Basically this filter is a slow sand filter. Different filter beds of gravel, sand, Anionic resin used as filtering bed through which spiked water samples of arsenic were allowed to pass in down-flow mode. From the observations it was found that Anionic Resin is good filter media to adsorb arsenic, giving 98% to 93% removal.