Strategies in Mitigating Arsenic Content in River Water
Higher arsenic concentration in Sg. Rui and Sg Perak have become a major concern for Gerik residents. the river water has always been the source of drinking water and also a source of income for the local community. But now it is suspected that tin mining activities on the upper stream causes arsenic problem at concentration higher than the safe limit set by the Department of Environment and Ministry of Health and has become an emerging concern for water supply and health related issues. the purpose of this paper is to assess the water quality status of both locations above where complaints have been received. comparative evaluation of treatments such as coagulation, adsorption by activated carbon, degradation by enzymes, removal by magnetized nanoparticles and filtration by sand media has been done. detection of arsenic content in water treatment analysis was determined by using inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES) based on the standard method APHA 3120B. The test shows that the mean level of arsenic contents in the samples is more than 0.25 mg/L up to 99.9% of reduction. This simple and affordable process of removal can be used to accommodate clean water for the public. A larger scale field test is currently underway.
Authors
Abstract
Higher arsenic concentration in Sg. Rui and Sg Perak have become a major concern for Gerik residents. the river water has always been the source of drinking water and also a source of income for the local community. But now it is suspected that tin mining activities on the upper stream causes arsenic problem at concentration higher than the safe limit set by the Department of Environment and Ministry of Health and has become an emerging concern for water supply and health related issues. the purpose of this paper is to assess the water quality status of both locations above where complaints have been received. comparative evaluation of treatments such as coagulation, adsorption by activated carbon, degradation by enzymes, removal by magnetized nanoparticles and filtration by sand media has been done. detection of arsenic content in water treatment analysis was determined by using inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES) based on the standard method APHA 3120B. The test shows that the mean level of arsenic contents in the samples is more than 0.25 mg/L up to 99.9% of reduction. This simple and affordable process of removal can be used to accommodate clean water for the public. A larger scale field test is currently underway.
Citation
MUHAMMAD AZROIE MOHAMED YUSOFF, CHM. NOR SALMI ABDULLAH, JAMILAH BINTI KARIM, DR. NOOR HAZA FAZLIN HASHIM, DATO IR. DR. HJ. NASEHIR KHAN E.M YAHAYA, NOR ASLINDA AWANG. 2021. Strategies in Mitigating Arsenic Content in River Water. Digital NAHRIM Publication Repository.