Mitigation and Remedy of Groundwater Arsenic Menace in India

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Mitigation and Remedy of Groundwater Arsenic Menace in India : A Vision DocumentChapter- 8Roadmap for Achieving Envisaged Targets8.1 Important MilestonesMilestones are the events, which are envisaged as future course of actions to achievethe targeted goals. The targeted goals in this case are: (a) to make arsenic contaminated aquifersconducive to preserve groundwater quality and produce arsenic free groundwater to meetdrinking and irrigation demands, (b) to find sustainable techniques and technologies fordecontamination of aquifers from arsenic and for the removal of arsenic from contaminatedwater, (c) to scale up scope for unveiling alternate sources of water to meet the demand ofpotable water in the arsenic affected and vulnerable areas, (d) to eradicate health hazards,originating from ingestion of arsenic contaminated water, and (e) to make society responsive tounconscious usages of water. The milestones to achieve the above goals, as emerged from thechapter- 7: 'Work Ahead: Critical Concerns and Key Challenges,' can broadly be categorized as:(i) R & D work to be undertaken to reach at logical solutions to the arsenic calamity,(ii) immediate measures to provide arsenic free potable water to the people in the arsenicvulnerable areas, and (iii) activities to be undertaken for Capacity Building and SocialEmpowerment, and (iv) revisit to revise the National Standard for Arsenic in drinking water. Thedetails of these envisaged tasks are as follows:(i)(ii)(iii)Emerging R & D Activities - to prepare database, improvise and translateunderstanding of causes, geochemistry, genesis, aggravation, mobilization anddissolution processes of arsenic in groundwater for different hydro-geological settingsto derive methods for in-situ remedy for decontaminating aquifers from arsenic; todevise cost effective, eco-friendly and socially accepted arsenic removal devices; toinvestigate feasibility of alternate sustainable water management (SW & GW)strategies to meet demand of water in the arsenic affected and vulnerable areas, toassess impact of arsenic in food chain and related health hazards, toascertain health impact of arsenic contaminated groundwater, etc.Ensuring Arsenic Free Water- activities and plan of actions to provide arsenic freedrinking water to the people in affected and vulnerable areas,Capacity Building and Social Empowerment - activities to promote publicawareness, capacity building and social empowerment about importance of water andits effective usages, health related issues, ill-effects of using contaminated water, etc.NIH & CGWB 139
Roadmap for Achieving Envisaged Targets(iv)Revisit to revise National Standard for Arsenic in drinking water: to considerrevision of the National Standard for Arsenic in drinking water in the light of the WHO'spresent guidelines.8.1.1 Emerging R & D ActivitiesThe technological opportunities, to resolve water scarcity in arsenic affected areas and,to get rid of groundwater arsenic menace, can be thought to be as under:i) In-situ remedy of aquifers by decontaminating arsenic from infested aquifers,ii) Use of groundwater after ex-situ treatment by arsenic removal devices,iii) Use of surface water source as an alternate to the contaminated groundwater source,iv) Exploring possibilities of tapping risk free deeper aquifers for supply of arsenic freegroundwater.Out of these four technological options, the most fascinating one is the in-situ removal ofarsenic from aquifers and restoring the aquifers from arsenic vulnerability. Ensuring supply ofdrinking water to the populace in the arsenic affected areas is the primary requirement while theirrigation water requirement in the arsenic affected areas can't be overlooked. Agriculture is thelife line of rural people and groundwater is the primary source for agricultural waterrequirement. Exploitation and usages of arsenic contaminated groundwater for agriculturalpurposes will not only spread the health hazards through the agricultural products but also help towiden the arsenic contaminated area. Thus, one has to look for a comprehensive solution toensure supply of arsenic free water to meet demands of both drinking and irrigation requirement.Although there are some commonly accepted hypotheses, explaining occurrences andmechanisms of arsenic in groundwater, however, causes, sources of parental materials includingtheir geo-chemical behaviors and processes in different hydro-geological settings and speciationare still to be established. Techniques and technologies, available globally and indigenously, forarsenic removal mostly, deal with ex-situ arsenic removal methods i.e., removal of arsenic fromcontaminated water after it is taken out from contaminated aquifers. As such, no specifictechnique except an approach claimed by 'Queen's University researchers in Belfast' has beenfound stating withdrawal of arsenic free groundwater or in-situ treatment of arseniccontaminated aquifer. The claim of eco-friendly treatment technique of arsenic removal, thatcan ensure safe irrigation and potable water supply at an affordable cost, by the 'Queen'sUniversity researchers in Belfast', needs verification and on field application, before thetechnique is accepted for large scale adaptation. Further, a variety of ex-situ treatmenttechnologies, which are mainly based on oxidation, co-precipitation, adsorption, ion-exchangeand membrane process, have their own merits and limitations, and are mostly foundunwarranted; in terms of efficiency, operation and maintenance, applicability/appropriateness ofthe technologies. The main disadvantages associated with those are: (i) they produce large140NIH & CGWB
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTThe Government of In
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nearly 33 villages in 4 districts i
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(iii) Whether ex-situ removal techn
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6.4 Experiences during Arsenic Remo
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List of FiguresFigure no. Figure ca
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List of TablesTable no. Table Capti
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5.2.2 Co-precipitationMitigation an
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Mitigation and Remedy of Groundwater Arsenic Menace in India

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