Browsing by Author "Bhattacharya, Prosun"
Now showing 1 - 5 of 5
Results Per Page
Sort Options
Item Developing innovations for adsorptive removal of arsenic from drinking water sources in North Mara gold mining area, Tanzania(Taylor & Francis, 2016-06) Irunde, Regina; Lesafi, F . J .; Mtalo, Felix W.; Bhattacharya, Prosun; Dutta, Joydeep; Bundschuh, JochenArsenic (As) contamination in drinking water have been reported to occur in areas where mining are practiced such as North Mara, lake Victoria basin in Mwanza, Geita and Rukwa. The removal of As requires methods such as ion-exchange, reverse osmosis, electrodialysis, contact precipitation, activated alumina, bone charcoal and activated clay. The use of ion-exchange, reverse osmosis and electrodialysis are expensive to be implemented in Tanzania. In order to safeguard the drinking water supplies, it is important to explore the low-cost and efficient locally available adsorbents such as activated alumina, bone char and clay for the removal of As for drinking water consumption.Item Geogenic Contaminants in the Groundwater in the Rift Valley of Tanzania- The Case of Arsenic and Fluoride(University of Dar Es Salaam, 2015-11) Bhattacharya, Prosun; Mtalo, Felix W.; Mato, Rubhera A. M.; Annaduzzaman, M.The access to safe and clean drinking water in Tanzania is challenged by geogenic contamination sources and intensification of mining activities. Nevertheless, the population growth, economic and industrial development activities also deplete the quality of drinking water sources in Tanzania, thus posing a great threat to source water quality including groundwater. The availability of safe groundwater for domestic, industrial and agricultural development is of the prime concern in developing countries like Tanzania. Majority of the inhabitants in the large cities and small rural communities in Tanzania depend on rivers, springs, hand-dug and shallow groundwater wells as their main drinking water sources. Hydrogeologically, about 75% of Tanzanian aquifer systems are in crystalline complex rocks with variable composition and age. However, predominantly Precambrian, which form the basement aquifers (e.g. the Pangani and Makutopora basins) and unfortunately this subsurface layer are highly contaminated with arsenic and fluoride. The contamination level of arsenic and fluoride in the soil, sediment, surface water and groundwater are related to the variation of hydrological conditions or geochemical factors (e.g. evaporite dissolution, cation exchange and carbonate weathering, redox potential etc.). Thus there is a huge gap within the primary information about the overall water quality and scarcity information and understanding of the fate and mobility of geogenic contaminants in the groundwater aquifers and surface water supply sources. This information is crucial in exploring aquifers as safe drinking water sources to delineate the associated human health risks of arsenic and fluoride pollution in groundwater sources. On the other hand, the limited studies have been used the locally available materials for developing arsenic and fluoride removal treatment technology for drinking water. These lab scale studies showed the significant potentiality of locally available adsorbent media for innovation and upscaling as water purification technology and develop policy strategies to provide safe drinking water.Item Geogenic Fluoride and Arsenic Contamination in the Groundwater Environments in Tanzania(2016) Bhattacharya, Prosun; Lesaf, Fina; Filemon, Regina; Ligate, Fanuel; Ijumulana, Julian; Mtalo, Felix W.Adequate, safe and accessible drinking water is an important aspect to human health worldwide. Understanding this importance, the Tanzanian Government has initiated a number of programmes to ensure access to high quality water by the citizens. However, elevated concentration of geochemical pollutants in many drinking water sources pose a serious challenge to water suppliers and users in the country. Fluoride is a widespread drinking water contaminant of geogenic origin occuring in both surface- and groundwater around volcanic mountains and many parts within the East African Rift Valley in regions including Arusha (10 mg/L), Shinyanga (2.9 mg/L) and Singida (1.8 mg/L). An estimated 90% of the population living along the Rift Valley region are affected by dental or skeletal fluorosis and bone crippling because of long term exposure to very high levels of fluoride in drinking water sources. In the mining areas within Lake Victoria basin, groundwater wit elevated concentrations of arsenic has been discovered over an extended area. Most of these geochemical and naturally occurring drinking water pollutants are patchy with uncertainities in their spatial and temporal distribution patterns. The adverse health effects of skin disorder and cancer due to an elevated As concentration are reported from the North Mara gold and Geita mining areas in the Lake Victoria basin. About 30% of the water sources used for drinking in Tanzania exceed the WHO guideline values of fluoride (1.5 mg/L) and arsenic (10 µg/L). There is a scarcity of baseline information on the water quality data especially on geogenic contaminants in the groundwater and surface water as potable sources. This information is crucial in exploring sources of safe drinking water aquifers, associated human health risks of fluoride and arsenic pollution. using Laboratory based studies during the past two decades have shown promising results on the removal of fluoride and arsenic using locally available adsorbent materials such as pumice, bauxite, ferralsols and bone char. Developing innovative technologies, pilot-scale implementation and scaling-up water purification based on the locally available adsorbents is thus necessary to safeguard the public health for communities exposed to high levels of fluoride and arsenic in drinking water.Item Occurrence of Arsenic in Groundwater, Soil and Sediments in Tanzania(CRC Press, 2016-06) Ligate, Fanuel; Ijumulana, Julian; Mtalo, Felix W.; Bhattacharya, Prosun; Bundschuh, JochenItem Spatial Modelling of Arsenic Distribution and Human Health Effects in Lake Victoria Basin, Tanzania(College of Engineering and Technology, University of Dar es Salaam, 2016) Ijumulana, Julian; Mtalo, Felix W.; Bhattacharya, ProsunIncreasing incidences of naturally occurring geogenic pollutants in drinking water sources and associated human health risks are the two major challenges requiring detailed knowledge to support decision making process at various levels. The presence, location and extent of environmental contamination is needed towards developing mitigation measures to achieve required standards. In this study we are developing a GIS-based model to detect and predict drinking water pollutants at the identified hotspots and monitor its variation in space. In addition, the mobility of pollutants within the affected region needs to be evaluated using topographic and hydrogeological data. Based on these geospatial data on contaminant distribution, spatial relationship of As and F contamination and reported human health effects such as dental caries, dental fluorosis, skeletal fluorosis and bone crippling, skin and other cancers etc. can be modeled for potential interventions for safe drinking water supplies.