Nanotechnology-Based Treatment Systems
for Arsenic Sequestration in Groundwater:
Contamination, Challenges and Future
Scope of Studies
2
Ajay Kumar, Pankaj Kumar Gupta, and Sanjay Kumar Gupta
Abstract
Arsenic has a global concern as a groundwater contaminant due to its potential for
fatal health consequences. The long-term consumption of arsenic-contaminated
water and food results in damage to the liver, kidney and gall bladder. Both
developed and developing countries are under a potential threat of groundwater
arsenic contamination. To combat the problems related to its contamination, the
WHO and the US EPA have set the standard limit of 10 μg L
À1 for drinking water
since the year of 2006. Its removal employing nanoadsorbents has gained considerable attention through both ex situ and in situ techniques among the scientific
groups since the last two and half decades. Moreover, nanotechnology-based
water treatment systems in general are also finding favour due to better resource
and energy efficiency.
Among the arsenic removal technologies (ART), oxidation and filtration lead
to addition of chemicals in the solution and individually is kinetically slow
process. Co-precipitation leads to the generation of large amount of sludge, and
extraction of removed ions is difficult. The ion-exchange phenomena are pH
dependent. Whereas membrane technology is not considered to be cost-effective,
A. Kumar
Environmental Hydrology Laboratory, Department of Hydrology, Indian Institute of Technology
Roorkee, Roorkee, Uttrakhand, India
e-mail: akumar1@hy.iitr.ac.in
P. K. Gupta (*)
Faculty of Environment, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada
e-mail: pk3gupta@uwaterloo.ca
S. K. Gupta
Environmental Engineering, Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology
Delhi, New Delhi, India
# Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021
R. Prasad (ed.), Environmental Pollution and Remediation, Environmental and
Microbial Biotechnology, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-5499-5_2
35
for Arsenic Sequestration in Groundwater:
Contamination, Challenges and Future
Scope of Studies
2
Ajay Kumar, Pankaj Kumar Gupta, and Sanjay Kumar Gupta
Abstract
Arsenic has a global concern as a groundwater contaminant due to its potential for
fatal health consequences. The long-term consumption of arsenic-contaminated
water and food results in damage to the liver, kidney and gall bladder. Both
developed and developing countries are under a potential threat of groundwater
arsenic contamination. To combat the problems related to its contamination, the
WHO and the US EPA have set the standard limit of 10 μg L
À1 for drinking water
since the year of 2006. Its removal employing nanoadsorbents has gained considerable attention through both ex situ and in situ techniques among the scientific
groups since the last two and half decades. Moreover, nanotechnology-based
water treatment systems in general are also finding favour due to better resource
and energy efficiency.
Among the arsenic removal technologies (ART), oxidation and filtration lead
to addition of chemicals in the solution and individually is kinetically slow
process. Co-precipitation leads to the generation of large amount of sludge, and
extraction of removed ions is difficult. The ion-exchange phenomena are pH
dependent. Whereas membrane technology is not considered to be cost-effective,
A. Kumar
Environmental Hydrology Laboratory, Department of Hydrology, Indian Institute of Technology
Roorkee, Roorkee, Uttrakhand, India
e-mail: akumar1@hy.iitr.ac.in
P. K. Gupta (*)
Faculty of Environment, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada
e-mail: pk3gupta@uwaterloo.ca
S. K. Gupta
Environmental Engineering, Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology
Delhi, New Delhi, India
# Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021
R. Prasad (ed.), Environmental Pollution and Remediation, Environmental and
Microbial Biotechnology, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-5499-5_2
35