Ineffectiveness and Poor Reliability of Arsenic Removal Plants in West Bengal, India
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- 作者：M. Amir Hossain ; Mrinal Kumar Sengupta ; Sad Ahamed ; Mohammad Mahmudur Rahman ; Debapriya Mondal ; Dilip Lodh ; Bhaskar Das ; Bishwajit Nayak ; Bimal K. Roy ; Amitava Mukherjee ; and Dipankar Chakraborti
- 刊名：Environmental Science & Technology
- 出版年：2005
- 出版时间：June 1, 2005
- 年：2005
- 卷：39
- 期：11
- 页码：4300 - 4306
- 全文大小：406K
- 年卷期：v.39,no.11(June 1, 2005)
- ISSN：1520-5851
文摘
In the recent past, arsenic contamination in groundwaterhas emerged as an epidemic in different Asian countries,such as Bangladesh, India, and China. Arsenic removal plants(ARP) are one possible option to provide arsenic-safedrinking water. This paper evaluates the efficiency of ARPprojects in removing arsenic and iron from raw groundwater,on the basis of our 2-year-long study covering 18 ARPsfrom 11 manufacturers, both from home and abroad, installedin an arsenic affected area of West Bengal, India,known as the Technology Park Project (TP project).Immediately after installation of ARPs on August 29, 2001,the villagers began using filtered water for drinking andcooking, even though our first analysis on September 13,2001 found that 10 of 13 ARPs failed to remove arsenic belowthe WHO provisional guideline value (10 
g/L), while sixplants could not achieve the Indian Standard value (50 g/L). The highest concentration of arsenic in filtered waterwas observed to be 364 g/L. Our 2-year study showed thatnone of the ARPs could maintain arsenic in filteredwater below the WHO provisional guideline value andonly two could meet the Indian standard value (50 g/L)throughout. Standard statistical techniques showed that ARPsfrom the same manufacturers were not equally efficient.Efficiency of the ARPs was evaluated on the basis of pointand interval estimates of the proportion of failure. Duringthe study period almost all the ARPs have undergone minoror major modifications to improve their performance,and after our study, 15 (78%) out of 18 ARPs were no longerin use. In this study, we also analyzed urine samplesfrom villagers in the TP project area and found that 82%of the samples contained arsenic above the normal limit.
g/L), while sixplants could not achieve the Indian Standard value (50 g/L). The highest concentration of arsenic in filtered waterwas observed to be 364 g/L. Our 2-year study showed thatnone of the ARPs could maintain arsenic in filteredwater below the WHO provisional guideline value andonly two could meet the Indian standard value (50 g/L)throughout. Standard statistical techniques showed that ARPsfrom the same manufacturers were not equally efficient.Efficiency of the ARPs was evaluated on the basis of pointand interval estimates of the proportion of failure. Duringthe study period almost all the ARPs have undergone minoror major modifications to improve their performance,and after our study, 15 (78%) out of 18 ARPs were no longerin use. In this study, we also analyzed urine samplesfrom villagers in the TP project area and found that 82%of the samples contained arsenic above the normal limit.