Where does arsenic in West Bengal water come from?

re: Where does arsenic in West Bengal water come from?

Zubair Adhami — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 15:25:38 GMT

I am incharge of drinking water quality of Kashmir PHE department Govt. of J&K We have recently discoverd Arsenic in our ground water in Kashmir, we are using strip test kit from Germany.Level of Arsenic detected is 0.1mg/l How do i confirm things. we are running a small lab here. can i recommend this water for drinking.or do i wait for your guidance thanks & regards Er. Zubair PHE department Kashmir

re: Where does arsenic in West Bengal water come from?

seema — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 15:09:53 GMT

Why don't you check with Suvrat (msg posted above)? Meanwhile, I'll look for any relevant information.

re: Where does arsenic in West Bengal water come from?

Dimitri — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 14:18:09 GMT

Is there any detailed information on arsenic and iron concentration in Jalpaiguri, Cooch Behar, Parulia, Bankura and Paschim Medinipur?

re: Where does arsenic in West Bengal water come from?

Seema Singh — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 13:04:23 GMT

Thanks for your comments. You have an interesting and informative blog on earth sciences.

As for this paper, I think the claim they make is about their grip on the processes that control passage of arsenic release into pore water, which so far has remained unclear. And this they claim makes it a useful model to study other deltaic regions. What you are referring to in WB study is indeed right, but its one particular study.

re: Where does arsenic in West Bengal water come from?

Suvrat — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 09:05:45 GMT

Nice concise commentary. I am not sure of the claim that this Nature study is the first ever to trace the source of contamination. This study done last year in the Bengal basin (Ganges Brahmaputra delta sediments) came to similar conclusions. The arsenic is trapped in organic rich deltaic sediments, the concentrations are correlated to surface elevation and local topography and hydro-geologic conditions controls its release in the groundwater.