Mitigation of Arsenic in Bangladesh

1. Welcome to the Presentation on
ARSENIC PROBLEM MANAGEMENT
Composed by
H.M.A.Mahzuz
Assistant Professor
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Shahjalal University of Science and Technology, Sylhet

2. ARSENICOSIS CAN BE MANAGED BY TREATMENT
• Provision of Vitamins such as Vitamin A, C and E.
• Nutritious Diet and Protein like beans, peas, pulse, lentils, wheat,
suyabeans, green and leafy vegetables may recover the
arsenicosis.
• Chelation Therapy (a particular way that ions and molecules bind
metal ions) is considered for the treatment of arsenicosis. A few
chelating agents like d-penicillamine, dimercapto succinic acid
DMSA and dimercapto propane sulphonate DMPS may be used for
arsenicosis.
• Indigenous Medicine Spirulina (spiral shaped, plankton blue green
algae) has been successfully used in the treatment of arsinocosis..
• Other Symptomatic Treatment: Keratosis of palms and soles can be
treated as by local application of keratolytic ointment - 20% in urea
and 10 to 20% salicylic acid in cream or vaselin. Treatment of
associated fungal infection with ointment and medicine also
improves the arsenicosis cases.

3. Chelator Used in
Dimercaprol
(British anti-Lewisite; BAL)
•acute arsenic poisoning
•acute mercury poisoning
•lead poisoning (in addition to EDTA)
•Lewisite poisoning (for which it was developed as an
antidote)
Dimercaptosuccinic acid
(DMSA)
•lead poisoning
•arsenic poisoning
•mercury poisoning
Dimercapto-propane sulfonate
(DMPS)
•severe acute arsenic poisoning
•severe acute mercury poisoning
Penicillamine
•Mainly in:copper toxicity
Occasionally adjunctive therapy in:
•gold toxicity
•arsenic poisoning
•lead poisoning
•rheumatoid arthritis
Ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid (calcium disodium versante)
(CaNa2-EDTA) •lead poisoning
Deferoxamine and
Deferasirox
•acute iron poisoning
•iron overload

4. SOCIAL PROBLEM AND SOCIETAL ASPECTS OF
ARSENIC HAZARD
• Social instability
• Superstition (superstitions, prejudices and fairy tales are
constructed surrounding arsenic patients)
• Ostracism (avoiding/neglecting in social as well as family functions)
• Diminish working ability
• Marriage related problems
• Suffering of the Women (Women with arsenicosis are the most
negligible among all victims of the disease)
• Mental anxiety and agony

5. ARSENICOSIS INCREASES THE ECONOMIC BURDEN
OF POOR
• Spending a lot of money for treating arsenicosis increases the
economic burden
• The poor arsenic victims become physically weak day by day and
eventually incapable of hard work, resulting into increased poverty
• Arsenic victims are treated as untouchables and lose their jobs as
arsenicosis acts as the main hurdle to have access to employment
for unemployed
• On livelihoods of families sometimes lose head of household or
“bread-earners” by arsenicosis.

6. ARSENIC CONTAMINATION AFFECTS THE FOOD
CHAIN
• Food crops such as rice and vegetables can become a path by
which arsenic may enter the food chain.
• an increase in arsenic in cultivated soils leads to an increase in the
levels of arsenic in vegetables.
• Yield of both tomato and silver-beet grown in soil containing 100 to
200 mg/kg arsenic, was significantly reduced (5 to 10% of the yield).
• High arsenic in irrigation water and soil appears to result in higher
concentration of arsenic in root, stem and leaf of rice plants. Since
rice straw (dry leaf and stem) is widely used as cattle feed in
Bangladesh, high arsenic in rice straw may result in adverse health
impacts on cattle and increase human arsenic exposure via the
plant-animal-human pathway. Most of the ground water used for
irrigation is contaminated with arsenic that may create hazard both
in soil environment and in crop quality.

7. ARSENIC REMOVAL TECHNIQUES PRACTICED IN
BANGLADESH
The most commonly used arsenic removal technologies include
• oxidation,
• co-precipitation and adsorption onto coagulated flocs following
filtration,
• lime treatment,
• adsorption onto sorptive media following filtration,
• ion exchange resin and
• membrane techniques
Based on these basic techniques following arsenic removal
methods under the specific categories are being employed in
Bangladesh.

8. (a)Oxidation: Oxidation includes
•Passive Sedimentation (Bashi Pani: 50% reduction of As)
•In-situ Oxidation (As reduced to half for ads. on ferric iron)
•Chemical OxidationI (In situ by Potassium Permanganate)
•Solar Oxidation (One third As reduced),
•Ultra violate radiation accelerate oxidation rate .

9. Processes Mainly Based on Oxidation
Passive Sedimentation ( Bashi Pani)
In-situ Oxidation
Chemical Oxidation
Solar Oxidation (SORAS)
1400 mm
1100 mm
GI sheet Tray
Top View
XX
Inlet to TW
Tray (75 mm slope)
Section X-X
1400 mm
1100 mm
600 mm
35 mm
GI pipe
150 mm Wash out
75 mm
DPHE-Danida In-situ Arsenic Removal by Oxidation

10. • (b) Coagulation and Filtration: Coagulation followed by filtration
includes
• Bucket Treatment Unit
• # DPHE-Danida Unit (Added Aluminum sulfate & Potassium
Permanganate)
• # BUET Modified Unit (Added Ferric chloride & Potassium
Permanganate)
• Stevens Institute Technology (Iron coagulant and hypochloride)
• Fill and Draw Units (Community type: Oxidant & Coag.)
• Arsenic Removal Unit Attached to Tube-well (Used in village in
Bangladesh and West Bangal, India: Added Sodium hypochloride
and Alum)
• Iron-Arsenic (Fe-As) Removal Plants
• # Fe-As removal Unit with up-flow filter (Community type: DPHE-
Danida Project)
• # Fe-As removal plant for small town
• Lime Treatment(Quick lime/hydrated lime used, pH required 10.6 to
11.4)

11. Bucket Treatment Unit
COAGULATION, CO-PRECIPITATIONCOAGULATION, CO-PRECIPITATION
AND ADSORPTION PROCESSESAND ADSORPTION PROCESSES
Filter
Flexible
Plastic
Pipe
Top
Bucket
Bottom
Bucket
Modified Bucket
Treatment Unit
Flexible
Plastic
Pipe
Cloth
Screen
Sand
Filter
PVC
Slotted
Screen
Top
Bucket
Bottom
Bucket

12. Cover
Impeller
Tank
Sludge
withdrawal
pipe
Handle
Filtration unit
Gear
system
Treated
water
Stevens Institute
Technology
DPHE-Danida Fill and
Draw Units
Chemical
s
Mixing
stick
Main bucket
Interior
bucket
Slits
Outlet with
cloth filter
Plastic pipe
to deliver
treated
water
Filte
r
san
d
Transfer of
chemical mixed
water

13. • (c) Sorptive Filtration: Sorptive filtration includes
• Activated Alumina
• # BUET Activated alumina
• # Alcan Enhanced Activated alumina
• # Apyron Arsenic Treatment Unit
• Granular Ferric Hydroxide
• Read-F Arsenic Removal Unit (Ethylenevinyl alcohol copolymer-born hydrous cerium
oxide)
• Iron coated sand
• Shapla Arsenic Filter (Iron coated brick chips)
• Sona 3-Kalshi Filter (1st
filter: sand, iron fillings & brick chips; 2nd
filter: sand, charcoal
& brick chips)
• SIDKO ARU
• SAFI Filter(Porous materials like kaolinite & iron oxide)
• Activated Carbon
• Indigenous Filter
• # Granet Home-made Filter (Brick chips & sand)
• # Chari Filter (1st
filter: brick chips; 2nd
filter: iron fillings & sand)
• # Adarsha Filter (Clayey material is used)
• # Bijoypur Clay
• # Processed Cellulose Filter
• # Cartridge Filter (sorptive media / ion exchange resins)

14. Activated
Alumina
Oxidation
Sedimentation Unit
Sand
Filtration
Unit
Tubewell
Outlet
(Treated
Water)
Inlet
( Water from Tubewell)
Aqua-Bind
Arsenic
Aqua-Bind
Filter Media
Lift Pump
Bucket Containing
Treated Water
Deliver Hose Pipe
Raising Hose
Pipe
BUET Activated Alumina Apyron Arsenic Removal Unit
Alcan Enhanced activated Alumina

15. Plain sand
Iron
Coated
Sand
Iron Coated
Crushed Brick
Particles
Perforated Plate
Covered Cloth
Flexible Water
Delivery Pipe
Treated Water
in a Bucket
Support
Lid
BUET Iron Coated sand Shapla Filter

16. Raw Water
Filter Media 1
Sand, IronFillings &
Brick Chips
Filter Media 2
Sand, Charcoal &
Brick Chips
Filtered Water
Contaminated
Water Inflow
Treated
Water Outflow
Gravel Filter Bed Adsorption Tower
Sono 3-Kalshi
SIDKO ARU
Arsenic
Contaminated
Tubewell Water
Arsenic safe
Water
Adsorbing
Media
SAFI Filter

17. (d) Ion Exchange: Ion exchange includes
• Tetrahedron Technology (Chlorine tablet & ion exchanger)
(e) Membrane Techniques: Membrane techniques includes
• Low-pressure Nano-filtration
• Reverse Osmosis
On the basis of the rapid assessment, the Technical Advisory Group
(TAG) of BAMWSP (Bangladesh Arsenic Mitigation Water
Supply Project) recommended the following household arsenic
removal technologies for experimental use in arsenic affected areas:
• Alcan Enhanced Activated Alumina
• BUET Activated Alumina
• Sono 3-Kolshi Method
• Stevens Institute Technology

18. Arsenic Removal
Unit Attached to
Tubewell
Fe-As Removal Unit
Attached to Tubewell
COAGULATION, CO-PRECIPITATIONCOAGULATION, CO-PRECIPITATION
AND ADSORPTION PROCESSESAND ADSORPTION PROCESSES
Attached to TWs.Attached to TWs.
A - Mixing; B - Flocculation; C - Sedimentation; D - Filtration (Up-flow)
A B
C
DB
Filter
Media
Aeration Tray
Tubewell
Washout Valve
Treated Water

19. y = 0.8718x + 0.4547
R2
= 0.6911
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Iron Removal , %
ArsenicRemoval,%
Correlation Between Arsenic and Iron Removal
Pump
Back washing Water supply
Overhead
water tank
Chlorination
Pump
Aeration
Inlet pipe
Filter bed
As-Fe Removal plant at urban Centres

20. ARSENIC SLUDGE CAUSES ENVIRONMENTAL
HAZARDS
• Arsenic-rich wastes are disposed in the open environment and
indiscriminate disposal of these wastes may lead to serious
environmental pollution.
• There is a strong demand for environmentally safe reuse of an
effective disposal method for iron and arsenic contaminated sludge
out of water treatment plants due to the increasing amount of sludge
generated by the water treatment plants in Bangladesh.
• At present, there are 18 number of large scale of arsenic and Iron
Treatment Plant in Bangladesh each generating about 60,000 cft
arsenic rich-sludge every year (DPHE, 2002). But no proper
disposal method for the highly toxic arsenic sludge waste has been
developed yet.
Arsenic sludge can be used for making bricks or construction
materials.

21. PRIORITY TASKS TO HANDLE THE ARSENIC HAZARD
• Raising public awareness about arsenic hazard,
• Participation of the civil society in arsenic mitigation process,
• Equa-community participation involving women specially mothers, sisters,
youths, elders equally,
• Improving nutrition and fighting undernourishment, Detailed investigation on
source identification,
• Exploring for alternative safe water sources such as surface water sources
like river, streams, ocean, seas, lake and ponds, mineral water of spring as
well as rainwater harvesting,
• Modification of drinking water standard,
• Scientific research on arsenic contaminated water treatment technologies
involving Bangladeshi academicians and researchers,
• Efficient water resource and water supply management,
• Cheaper and environment friendly arsenic removal techniques like biological
methods such as use of phytoplankton, water-hyacinth, wood charcoal,
paddy ash etc. instead of chemical processes.
• Use of Arsenic sludge for existing treatment plants to make construction
materials like bricks,
• Intra-governmental coordination.

22. THANKS A LOT
for
YOUR KIND AQTTENTION