Water & Health: Re-inventing the arsenic filter for safe drinking water in Bangladesh

Arsenic contamination in groundwater of shallow aquifers is a health and development disaster that severely limits the access to safe drinking water for millions of people living in rural areas of Bangladesh. At TU Delft it was recently discovered that naturally occurring bacteria in rapid sand filters in the Netherlands can remove arsenic together with iron, naturally present in groundwater. This project aims to investigate whether this is also possible with Bangladeshi rapid sand filters, where arsenic concentrations are 10-100 times higher. This will provide a strong basis for new arsenic removal technology development without the need for chemicals or adsorbents.

Doris van Halem