Table of Contents
Arsenic (As) in drinking water
A technical paper by Olympian Water Testing specialists
Arsenic in drinking water
Arsenic is a mineral found in rocks and soils naturally. Water in rainwater dissolves the mineral and passes through the earth to get into subsurface waters [1]. Arsenic is a carcinogen, or something that’s a bit cancer-causing and toxic at very low levels [2]. You’ll get cancer and other diseases when you drink water tainted with arsenic.
We hope through education you will become a lot more informed about arsenic water, what happens when you drink it, and how you can reduce the effects on your body.
How arsenic contaminates drinking water?
All living things are composed to some extent of arsenic. Humans get most of their arsenic exposure from drinking water. The compound exists in nature in rocks and soils someplace. Arsenic containing minerals most abundant arsenopyrite (FeAsS), usually anaerobic in presence of various rock-forming minerals like sulfide, carbonate, oxide, phosphate, silicate [3]. Arsenic is one of the most widely used inorganic substances [1] for the past 5000 years in industry. The compound dissolves when water encounters a weapons stockpile of rocks and penetrates waterways. Normally they may have very low levels due to speed and quantity of dissolution. Most people in the US (US) live off well water, most of it drilled into aquifers formed by incipient rock beds containing water-storing permeable rocks [4]. If a part of the rocks upstream contained arsenic, the solution goes into the aquifers and pollutes all the water. Research comparing arsenic levels in groundwater from 70 countries has documented levels of as high as 0.5 to 5000 ppb and global aquifers have been extremely arsenic-contaminated [3].
Other ways that arsenic gets into the water are:
The Burning of Fossil Fuels
Almost all fossil fuels contain arsenic, and burning it produces arsenic emissions. They wash away in the rain, and they poison the water supply with arsenic [5].
Metal Production
Once gold has been dug up, other arsenic elements are cast out. Thus they soluble in rainwater and pollute groundwater [6].
Agriculture
Some pesticides contain arsenic, if the disposal is poor, the rains wash it off and flush it from the soil [7]. It takes a few seasons of rain to let the arsenic soak and pollute the groundwater.
Waste Burning Pits
The vast majority of the landfills decompose their trash and there are some with arsenic [7]. And then rainwater passes through the burnt ashes, dissolves the chemical and moves to the wells.
Health Effects
Arsenic is dangerous to the body and will inflict serious damage and injury on those who take it. Toxic and causes cardiovascular, neurological dermal, gastrointestinal, liver, pulmonary, renal, respiratory, reproductive, and reproductive illness[6]. – If you think you may have swallowed a dose of arsenic, contact a doctor immediately.
Cancer
Arsenic is one of the carcinogens that has caused cancer in human beings. Researchers revealed that patients taking drugs with arsenic had a higher incidence of skin tumours [6]. There is also a proof of this that arsenic-infested water can cause lung, kidney, liver and bladder cancer [8].
Skin problems
It is very early in the course of the arsenic exposure, the skin begins to melanosis and then keratosis (hardening) of the skin [9]. Exposure remains and the skin will grow freckles that look like raindrops (leukomelanosis). Most of these freckles are on the arms and legs. These causes cracks later and can develop further as skin cancer [10]. A horny rash also develops on the feet of young children.
Lower Intelligence levels among children
Young children who drink arsenic-contaminated water are also at risk of low verbal IQ and permanent memory impairment [10]. There’s evidence that arsenic interferes with brain development, particularly in infants whose brains are still growing.
Gastrointestinal effects
In the water that is arsenic contaminated, you may get diarrhea, vomiting, abdominal pains and hemorrhagic gastroenteritis [6]. Most of the time, you won’t realize you have it until you’re bleeding.
Cardiovascular effects
Heart Diseases Caused by Arsenic. They are congestive heart failure, hypotension and cardiac arrhythmias. Further, drinking water with arsenic has been linked to the formation of peripheral vascular disease. Arsenic is also able to lead to black foot disease, peripheral vasculopathy such as occlusions and foot gangrene [3]. Chronic exposure causes hypertension, occlusion of arteries and stroke and heart attack [3, 10]. Arsenic-induced hypertension results from activating inflammatory processes and endothelial dysfunction that causes blood vessel tone and kidney damage [11].
Hematological effects
Short or long term arsenic-contaminated water poisoning will lead to marrow failure, leading to leukopenia, anemia and thrombocytopenia [6].
Pulmonary Effects
When you drink water that contains arsenic, it’s relatively simple to suffer from a persistent cough, constrictive lung disease and lung cancer [6]. And it can even cause pulmonary fibrosis and other non-smoking lung conditions.
Immunological effects
Humans got immune deficiency disease when medical arsenic was applied in the early twentieth century. For instance, in 1982, after people in Huron County, Michigan had water treated with arsenic, most developed cold sores and herpes zoster because of immunosuppression. Furthermore, it has been reported that varicella-zoster virus (VZV) infection is reactivated in patients receiving arsenic, and in patients with promyelocytic leukemia given arsenic trioxide, which proves that arsenic is immunotoxic [12].
Neurological conditions
If you drank water containing arsenic of 10 mg/l or higher, your brain might suffer delirium, encephalopathy, cramping or tremors, peripheral neuropathy, and even death 12-24 hours after taking a fatal dose [13]. And, arsenic is known to interfere with thinking and worsen mental illness [14].
Reproductive and Developmental Effects
Arsenic intake of 100 mg/l of water caused pregnancy complications. These include maternal deaths and birth defects in children. Arsenic exposure had been found to worsen sperm quality and lead to fertility issues. It also affects endometrial angiogenesis during pregnancy [15]
How to Know if Arsenic Levels are Elevated in Your drinking water
Arsenic water tastes no different than pristine water. Arsenic is colourless, tasteless and odourless. The water in contaminated with arsenic is pure and looks like normal water. It doesn’t even stain. You might therefore be consuming arsenic from your municipal or private well source with no trace of arsenic present. -Water samples are taken for analysis in-house to confirm the presence and level of water.
Why Should I Test My Water for Arsenic Contamination?
EPA: All water acceptable for human use must have less than 10 ppb (parts per billion) arsenic [16]. Arsenic in private wells, especially in areas like Minnesota, tends to be higher than these EPA action levels. So test your water if you live in Minnesota.
Is the arsenic content of water variable?
The concentrations do shift, of course. Disclaimer: You can’t get a correct water arsenic test at home. No one should be able to analyse the water and report the results but a reputable drinking water laboratory. If the test indicates high arsenic in the water, you must take care of it now and only use bottled water until it is cleared.
How to De-contaminate Arsenic in Drinking Water
Then came some technologies for purifying water of arsenic. These technologies have managed to protect most people from the negative consequences of drinking arsenic-contaminated water.
Iron-Oxide Adsorption
The process is based on iron oxide granules to remove arsenic from the water. Iron oxide can be purchased in pellets, added to water wells and tanks [17]. For the most effective solution, be sure to position the pellets at the place where water is flowing into the tank. There is also chromium, lead, and mercury removed by iron oxide pellets, but you will have to add them to the filter paper. After that, the water enters the tanks, is purified by the medium and remediated and humanely available after final clearance testing.
Activated Alumina
It’s an adsorbent medium made from aluminum oxide. It draws arsenic molecules to its surface. So, apart from filtering pollutants out of water, it takes them in [18]. When arsenic-contaminated water flows through the media, the arsenic gets dissolved, and you get good, clean water. Alumina also dissolves both forms of arsenic and purifies the water of lead and fluoride. It comes in pellet form and is mainly installed in tanks. Activated alumina filters more water and stays longer.
Reverse osmosis
One of the water-treatment technologies that get rid of arsenic from the water. Pressure pushes the polluted water across a membrane in the machine. Water passes through the membrane and dirt is washed away. The machine will deactivate around 40-75% of arsenic from water [19]. But the reverse osmosis machine is adept at dissolving arsenic III in water. You’ll want to know water tests if you have water with arsenic IV or III. If you discover arsenic III, oxidise it to arsenic IV so the machine could take it out. Arsenic III is easiest to convert to arsenic IV – potassium permanganate is dissolved in water [20]. But the approach is a squander of water. The concentrated brine laden with contaminants is poured down the drain, and in the long run the water could contaminate other waterways downstream.
Coagulation and filtration
The coagulant in this is iron oxide. It uses iron oxide to boil arsenic compounds in the water [21]. After iron oxide has solidified, it gets granules washed out. It cleans water of all arsenic. Very efficient but continually needs optimization and tinkering until it gets you to a point of always having good drinking water that’s safe for humans to drink.
Distillation
Water distillation is the best way to decontaminate water with arsenic. The method is boiling water and cooling down the steam [3]. Cool the steam and you will have pure arsenic free drinking water. But the sediments that remain are rich in arsenic because arsenic is boiling point greater than water.
Ion Exchange
Decontaminate water by the ion exchange procedure through resin beads. The resin beads are generally positive-ion charged. The arsenic in the arsenic water is deposited on the negative ions of the resin beads as well [19].
This ion exchange process removes almost 95% of arsenic V from water but not arsenic III. And also purifies the other dirt from water. But its down side is it is water wasting and resin beads are constantly being regenerated with salt [3, 19].
Oxidation with filtration
It is done with ozone, potassium permanganate, and chlorine. Its activity is to oxidise arsenic III to arsenic V [22]. The whole oxidized product is then filtered through the addition of sand and coal anthracite [19, 23]. The manganese greensand can be added to the filter too. The approach works if they are constantly tracked and based on the data, they are regularly recombined.
What should you consider before choosing an arsenic treatment method?
Each treatment for most of water has its pros and cons. You can decide which ones are right for you and your situation.
Water quality
So before you decide which arsenic removal method you want, know the test results. If you have any arsenic at all, you can buy point-of-use disinfection devices (reverse osmosis systems like those mentioned above) and install them at the affected taps. You can even place arsenic removal filters in the water supply of the refrigerator or under a container like a kitchen sink.
Maintenance Needs
The water treatment process of every one of them requires periodic upkeep. You have to recharge the salts, for instance. A lot of distillation requires quite a lot of electricity. Also take into account the rate of electricity usage and how much money the method will cost you. There are systems that have to be replaced later, that’s going to have to be factored in.
Know the kind of arsenic your water has.
What a water lab will do is demonstrate to you what sort of arsenic you might have in your water. Some water sources contain Arsenic V and III, and others only one. Ion exchange process cannot remove arsenic V, but it can remove arsenic III [3, 19]. Only a water laboratory can test the water and tell you the brands of water. Then, certified experts can tell you what technology is the best to clean arsenic pollution.
Installation Cost of Water Purification Technologies – Water Purification Technologies.
Most of the technologies are not that expensive, some are prohibitive. But what you’ll do will be determined by how much contamination and how much volume of material you’re working with. Whether you have to disinfect a large amount of water for a community or even a daycare/school, then you’ll need a high-speed and reliable product to clean the water source right away and always. But point-of-use systems run several hundred dollars, and big-box installation for schools and homes will run thousands.
Space
Probably it would be nice if you think about the size of the room where you will be setting up the water purifier. For instance, if you are planning point-of-use systems, make sure that there is enough room under the sinks for such a feature.
Water Pressure
If you have poor water pressure, then you’ll probably want to make it better so that the process runs efficiently. There are also water filters that won’t operate if you have low or too high water pressure. Your water’s flow rate should also be known. : Flow rate is critical if you’re using an electricity-based water treatment system. If the flow is slow, then the filter equipment will need more time to filter water which means more power and probably less than optimal filtering performance.
FAQ
What is the source of arsenic in drinking water?
Rocks and soil contain natural arsenic [3]. When it rains, arsenic dissolves in water and contaminates underground water sources such as aquifers and wells. Other sources include vehicle fumes as well as manufacturing and construction industries waste found at landfills.
Is arsenic harmful?
Acute or chronic arsenic poisoning causes skin, kidney, liver and gastrointestinal cancers. Children who consume water contaminated with arsenic develop neurological conditions and have demonstrated a low IQ [8].
Can I purify water contaminated with arsenic?
Yes, you can purify. We have various water treatment technologies that you can use. These include reverse osmosis, using resin-coated ions, and ferric oxide.
What do I need to know before I purchase a water purification system?
First, you need to know where you will install it, its maintenance, effectiveness, water pressure and quality. The cost and ease of installation also matter.
Do I need water testing before purchasing any water purification technology?
Yes. You must highly consider testing your water to have a baseline and an understanding of what issues exist. This information will assist you with proper filter and technology selection.
Reach out to an Environmental Professional
Every day, water gets contaminated at the source. Arsenic is toxic to human health and may cause permanent damage and even death. If you suspect your water is contaminated, have it professionally tested.
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