It can be easily integrated into existing water purification systems in households

IIT Roorkee develops affordable tech to produce arsenic-free drinking water – Food Industry News

A group of researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Roorkee has developed a simple and affordable point-of-use technology that can successfully remove arsenic under a real arsenic-contaminated water environment.

This low-cost solution to produce arsenic-free drinking water can also remove other heavy metals. This project was showcased at ‘IInvenTiv,’ the IITs R&D Fair held at IIT Delhi on the 14th and 15th of October 2022.

The researchers have developed a novel adsorbent that will adsorb the two most hazardous arsenic species of arsenite (As (III) & arsenate As(V)) along with other heavy metal ions.

The two key features of this innovation are that it can be easily integrated into existing water purification systems in households as well as large domestic systems; and the adsorbent is prepared from industrial waste called ‘ferromanganese slag’ and an economical natural rock that is abundantly available through a simple chemical treatment.

Currently, this technology is not available in India, and imported adsorbents available in the market are limited, and the cost is also considerably higher.