Berkeley Arsenic Alleviation Group

Arsenic in drinking water is a major public health problem threatening the well-being (and in many cases, lives) of more than a hundred million people. According to World Health Organization estimates, in Bangladesh alone, over 40 million people drink arsenic laden water from shallow wells. Scientists at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory have developed a simple material (“ARUBA”—Arsenic Removal Using Bottom Ash) that takes arsenic out of drinking water cheaply, quickly, and safely. It is made from bottom ash, a waste material from coal fire power plants, which is coated with rust through a simple and inexpensive chemical process. After use, ARUBA can be safely disposed of in landfills.

The Berkeley Arsenic Alleviation Group (BAAG) is a multidisciplinary group composed of graduate and undergraduate students in chemistry, mechanical engineering, energy and resources, medicine, and economics. The goal of BAAG is to design a water treatment system that utilizes ARUBA to effectively remove arsenic from drinking water. Alongside the scientific and engineering development, the team is developing a business model for system implementation. This solution will take into account economic costs/benefits, social acceptability, affordability, and sustainability. In addition, we are now exploring the socieoceonomic and public health implications of arsenic remediation using ARUBA.

Project mission:

To design an effective community-based water treatment system to provide affordable arsenic-free water to rural Bangladeshis.

To develop a financially sustainable business strategy for implementation of treatment systems.

To devise a plan for social marketing of the proposed system and educational outreach relating to the importance clean water.

Potential impact:

Reduce the prevalence of arsenic poisoning in the region, alleviating the sicknesses associated with arsenic poisoning, including gangrene, cancer and lesions in the skin, while also reducing the number of missed work days caused by these illnesses.

Required resources:

1. Total project needs: $135,000
2. In-kind contribution needs: Mileage/Plane tickets between SFO and Dhaka, Bangladesh

News:

• http://www.nature.com/nm/journal/v11/n11/full/nm1105-1128a.html
• http://www.lbl.gov/Science-Articles/Archive/EETD-Gadgil-water-filter.html
• http://innovations.coe.berkeley.edu/vol2-issue6-june08/deadlywater
• http://www.alumni.berkeley.edu/e-newsletter/Cal_Connection_2007_07.asp

Our sponsors:

National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance (NCIIA)
UC Berkeley Blum Center for Developing Economies
Haas School of Business Sustainable Products & Solutions (SPS) Program

Project page URL:

• http://arsenic.lbl.gov/

Additional info:

We are working with researchers at the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET).