Fluoride-safe drinking water point
Just attended an international conference "GeoGen2013" in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia last week (Feb 5-7, 2013) to discuss geogenic contaminants in water. The title of the conference was "Towards sustainable safe drinking water supply in developing countries: The challenges of geogenic contaminants and mitigation measures"; I presented a poster "Irrigation-induced recharge flushes mobile arsenic from shallow groundwater in the Bengal Basin, Bangladesh." The poster can be downloaded here.
Copied from conference website: Groundwater quality can be inadequate for drinking purposes. Many groundwaters are saline or may contain naturally-occurring substances that have serious adverse health impacts. The two most important geogenic contaminants, arsenic and fluoride, affect up to 10% of wells.The sustainable supply of contaminant-free drinking water (focusing on arsenic and fluoride) requires a multifaceted approach. This includes an understanding of the extent of contamination, the importance of diet and the potential of alternative water resources. Robust, simple technologies are necessary, but major hurdles are often rather related to economics, logistics and human preferences and habits.
Copied from conference website: Groundwater quality can be inadequate for drinking purposes. Many groundwaters are saline or may contain naturally-occurring substances that have serious adverse health impacts. The two most important geogenic contaminants, arsenic and fluoride, affect up to 10% of wells.The sustainable supply of contaminant-free drinking water (focusing on arsenic and fluoride) requires a multifaceted approach. This includes an understanding of the extent of contamination, the importance of diet and the potential of alternative water resources. Robust, simple technologies are necessary, but major hurdles are often rather related to economics, logistics and human preferences and habits.