Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/1893/21148
Appears in Collections:Biological and Environmental Sciences Journal Articles
Peer Review Status: Refereed
Title: Arsenic removal from drinking water by a household sand filter in Vietnam - Effect of filter usage practices on arsenic removal efficiency and microbiological water quality
Author(s): Nitzsche, Katja Sonja
Lan, Vi Mai
Trang, Pham Thi Kim
Viet, Pham Hung
Berg, Michael
Voegelin, Andreas
Planer-Friedrich, Britta
Zahoransky, Jan
Mueller, Stefanie-Katharina
Byrne, James M
Schröder, Christian
Behrens, Sebastian
Kappler, Andreas
Contact Email: christian.schroeder@stir.ac.uk
Keywords: Arsenate
Arsenite
Iron minerals
Sorption
Groundwater
Fecal indicator bacteria
Issue Date: Jan-2015
Date Deposited: 7-Oct-2014
Citation: Nitzsche KS, Lan VM, Trang PTK, Viet PH, Berg M, Voegelin A, Planer-Friedrich B, Zahoransky J, Mueller S, Byrne JM, Schröder C, Behrens S & Kappler A (2015) Arsenic removal from drinking water by a household sand filter in Vietnam - Effect of filter usage practices on arsenic removal efficiency and microbiological water quality. Science of the Total Environment, 502, pp. 526-536. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2014.09.055
Abstract: Household sand filters are applied to treat arsenic- and iron-containing anoxic groundwater that is used as drinking water in rural areas of North Vietnam. These filters immobilize poisonous arsenic (As) via co-oxidation with Fe(II) and sorption to or co-precipitationwith the formed Fe(III) (oxyhydr)oxides. However, information is lacking regarding the effect of the frequency and duration of filter use aswell as of filter sand replacement on the residual As concentrations in the filtered water and on the presence of potentially pathogenic bacteria in the filtered and stored water.We therefore scrutinized a household sand filter with respect to As removal efficiency and the presence of fecal indicator bacteria in treatedwater as a function of filter operation before and after sand replacement. Quantification of As in the filtered water showed that periods of intense daily use followed by periods of non-use and even sand replacement did not significantly (p b 0.05) affect As removal efficiency. The As concentration was reduced during filtration from115.1±3.4 μg L−1 in the groundwater to 5.3±0.7 μg L−1 in the filteredwater (95% removal). The first flush of water fromthe filter contained As concentrations belowthe drinking water limit and suggests that this water can be used without risk for human health. Colony forming units (CFUs) of coliform bacteria increased during filtration and storage from 5 ± 4 per 100 mL in the groundwater to 5.1 ± 1.5 × 103 and 15 ± 1.4 × 103 per 100 mL in the filtered water and in the water from the storage tank, respectively. After filter sand replacement, CFUs of Escherichia coli of b100 per 100 mL were quantified. None of the samples contained CFUs of Enterococcus spp. No critical enrichment of fecal indicator bacteria belonging to E. coli or Enterococcus spp. was observed in the treated drinking water by qPCR targeting the 23S rRNA gene. The results demonstrate the efficient and reliable performance of household sand filters regarding As removal, but indicate a potential risk for human health arising from the enrichment of coliform bacteria during filtration and from E. coli cells that are introduced by sand replacement.
DOI Link: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2014.09.055
Rights: The publisher does not allow this work to be made publicly available in this Repository. Please use the Request a Copy feature at the foot of the Repository record to request a copy directly from the author. You can only request a copy if you wish to use this work for your own research or private study.
Licence URL(s): http://www.rioxx.net/licenses/under-embargo-all-rights-reserved

Files in This Item:
File Description SizeFormat 
Nitzsche2015_arsenic_removal_from_drinking_water_by_household_sand_filter_in_vietnam.pdfFulltext - Published Version1.79 MBAdobe PDFUnder Embargo until 3000-12-01    Request a copy

Note: If any of the files in this item are currently embargoed, you can request a copy directly from the author by clicking the padlock icon above. However, this facility is dependent on the depositor still being contactable at their original email address.



This item is protected by original copyright



Items in the Repository are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.

The metadata of the records in the Repository are available under the CC0 public domain dedication: No Rights Reserved https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/

If you believe that any material held in STORRE infringes copyright, please contact library@stir.ac.uk providing details and we will remove the Work from public display in STORRE and investigate your claim.