Simultaneous Removal of Iron, Arsenic and Fluoride

Groundwater is the major source of domestic water for people living in rural and semi-urban area of Assam - a northeastern hilly province of India. However, it contains excessive amounts of fluoride, arsenic and iron - much higher than the permissible limits of drinking water. The rural and semi-urban population of Assam use different variants of indigenous household iron filter units using locally available materials such as community prepared wooden charcoal and river sand to reduce concentration of iron from the groundwater. No efforts are being made by the rural and semi-urban population to reduce concentrations of fluoride and arsenic from the groundwater before using it. The present work is directed towards assessing the potential of filter media used in the indigenous household filter units for removal of fluoride, arsenic and iron. The performance testing of designed laboratory scale filter units demonstrated without any ambiguity its effectiveness in removing all the three metal ions of concern simultaneously.