Poor performance

efforts to remove arsenic from drinking water in West Bengal are failing, as per a study by Dipankar Chakraborti, head of the School of Environmental Studies, Jadavpur University, Kolkata. Chakraborti's team monitored 18 arsenic-removal plants in West Bengal over a two-year period. These plants have been made by 11 different manufacturers in India, Germany and the us; each costs, on an average, us$1,500 and uses a series of filters and extraction systems to achieve removal of arsenic from drinking water.

The scientists found none of the plants reduced arsenic levels below the maximum safe value stipulated by the World Health Organization (who). The average arsenic concentration in treated water measured over two years was 26 microgrammes per litre -- more than twice the 10 microgrammes per litre value recommended by who. They also found that 80 per cent of the local villagers tested had abnormal levels of arsenic in their urine. The study was published recently in the journal Environmental Science and Technology (Vol 39, No 11, April 7, 2005).

Excessive levels of the toxic substance in drinking water threaten the health of millions of people in West Bengal and in neighbouring Bangladesh. It may take as long as 10 years for signs of arsenic poisoning to appear. The toxin can cause skin diseases and cancer.

According to Chakraborti, instead of trying to decontaminate groundwater containing high levels of arsenic, efforts should focus on supplying clean surface water to affected areas.

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