Examining Arsenic Mitigation Technologies using Process Analysis Method

240 Pages·2012·9.66 MB·English

Accounting for Sustainability in Bengal:
Examining Arsenic Mitigation Technologies
using Process Analysis Method

Tamara R. Etmannski
St Edmund Hall
University of Oxford

A thesis submitted for the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy
Department of Engineering Science
Hilary 2014

Abstract

This thesis shows how the Process Analysis Method (PAM) can be applied to assess
technologies used to mitigate arsenic from drinking water in rural India, using a set of
sustainability indicators. Stakeholder perspectives, gathered from a fieldwork survey of
933 households in West Bengal in 2012, played a significant role in this assessment.
This research found that the ‘Most Important’ issues as specified by the technology
users are cost, trust, distance from their home to the clean water source (an indicator of
convenience), and understanding the health effects of arsenic. It was also found that none
of the ten technologies evaluated are economically viable, as many do not charge user-fees,
which creates reliance upon donations to meet recurring costs. Utilisation of a technology is
strongly related to sociocultural capital, but in many cases, features that contribute to
sociocultural value, like regular testing of the treated water, are not included in the financial
budget. It is suggested that increased awareness might change attitudes to arsenic-rich
waste and its disposal protocols. This waste is often currently discarded in an
uncontrolled manner in the local environment, giving rise to the possibility of point-
source recontamination. All technologies proved to have difficulties in dealing with
waste, except the Tipot and Dug wells which produce no waste. Of the methods
considered, the BESU technology scored highest, but still only with 47-62% of the
maximum scores achievable within each domain. This explains the widespread failure
of mitigation projects across the region. The indicators and metrics show where
improvements can be made. A model scheme based on these findings is outlined which
could be applied with the objective of increasing utilisation and improving
sustainability. It can be concluded that a product stewardship approach should be taken in
regard to design, implementation and operation of the technologies, including the creation of
a regulated toxic waste collection and disposal industry.

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Why do you use the filter? Why Meet the people…*
did you stop?*

“The operator built a new house. Where
did he get the money? It’s wrong for him
to profit when water should be free. I
refuse to pay.”
“The community club is in charge of that
water. I trust them so I use the filter.”
“I have never seen the operator clean it.
He has no boss. So I don’t use it.”
“The filter looks dirty and old.”

“I don’t know who installed it. It’s
broken. It has been broken for years.
There is no number to call for help.”
“The flow is too slow; I don’t have time to
wait.”
“I get loose movements after I drink that
water so I don’t use the filter anymore.”
“It costs too much.”
“The operator washes his cow in that
water. So it must not be drinkable.”
“Dr. Chakraborti from Jadavpur
University in Kolkata told me to use this
filter, so I do.”
“The filter broke.”
“Would you drink water from that? It
looks like a heap of garbage. I don’t trust
it.”
“The Panchayat [village leader] doesn’t
use the filter, so it must not work.”
“The ball inside costs too much to replace,
so after it expired I stopped using the
filter.”
“Now the operator wants money from us.
I thought the NGO was paying him?
Maybe he is corrupt.”

*All of the quotes are translations from Bengla. All of
the people photographed gave verbal consent.

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Hand-rolling cigarettes made from leaves for This woman welcomed me into her home for
supplementary family income. tea during a monsoon downpour.

Married women typically wear red saris. Sewing nets and hamocks to sell at the
market.

Except her favorite colour is purple. White saris are worn by widows.
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I dedicate this piece of work to:
My Opa (Walter Hoffmann), who understands my soul;
My Mom (Ute Etmannski) who doesn’t, but who is unrelentingly loving regardless;
My big brother (Jonathan Etmannski), for being my best friend.

I would also like to acknowledge:
My Father (Karl Etmannski) and my little brother (Michael Etmannski),
who, despite some misunderstandings, I know love me deeply
and are proud of this achievement.
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Acknowledgements
I would like to thank my supervisor Professor Richard C. Darton for the
countless coffees, the constructive use of his red pen and for the freedom to forge my
own research path. Thanks to Dr Alex Lubansky for his mentorship, to Professor Ian
Thompson for caring and taking the time to be an examiner and to Dr Heather
Cruickshank for her insights during the viva.
Financial support from both the Oxford University John Fell Fund and the
National Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) are gratefully
acknowledged. I am also appreciative to all of my Indian staff for their hard work in the
field every day despite scorching temperatures and monsoon rain. I am indebted to the
stakeholders and water-treatment professionals who generously gave their time to this
study, for without them this thesis would not be what it is today. They are all listed by
name on the following page.
I would also like to thank my best friends here in Oxford, Katherine Glover
and Lucy Erickson for their unwavering support, as well as my officemates in
engineering, and college friends and ‘family’ at Teddy Hall for providing me with both
motivation and distraction. Thanks to the decanal team (zoo), for the laughter over
many shared meals and pints. Sincere thanks to my English and Welsh surrogate
families, the Glovers and Watts, for opening their homes and hearts to me.
Finally, a special thank you goes to my friends and family (all the Etmannskis &
the Hoffmanns, Driessens, Loeppkys and Williams) from Canada for the endless supply
of Tim’s and encouragement; And to Desirée & Mike McLeay, Jennifer Wiley,
Franco Mosca, Andrea Ewing, Neeka Mottahedeh, Gennyne McCune and
Stephanie Thomas for believing in me from day one.
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Special thanks to all those in India who made this work possible:
I am grateful beyond words to Dr Meera Hira-Smith, Professor Allan Smith and
the Hira family for welcoming me into their Kolkata home for three months; and
especially grateful to Rajashree Hira and Moni Mondol for their friendship during that
time. Thanks to Professor Dipankar Chakraborti and Jadavpur University for donating
the laboratory analysis of my water samples and to Professor Arup SenGupta for
hosting me during my first trip to India. I am indebted to Hiya Bandyopadhyay, my
field assistant, and to Deepanjana Banerjee, Saswati Mondal, Madhumita Adhikari,
Samarpita Debnath, Priyanka Dutta, Paramita Paul, Antara Das, Soumita Biswas,
Chandra Perndham and Ganga P. Roy, the surveyors and driver, for without whom this
work would not have been possible.
Also, thanks to Tuhin Banerji (IIT Bombay), Shyamnarayan Dave (UNICEF),
Ben Lind (Palintest), Paramita Prathama (Project Well NGO), Sibdas Bandyopadhyay
(CGCRI), Arunabha Majumder (Jadavpur/ Presidency), Anirban Gupta (BESU), Tanvir
Ahmed (Harbauer-India), Bhaskar Sengupta (Tipot), Asok Das Gupta (Tipot), Prasun
Sengupta (Tagore Foundation NGO) Abhijit Das (Jadavpur), Somenath Mukherjee
(Behala Sambit), Susan Amrose (UCBerkeley), Aminul Ahsan (WBVHA-Lalgola),
Ashok and Mallicka Bhattacharya (logistics), Tilak Basu (logistics), Anil Chanda
(logistics), Rahit Shaw (logistics), Kshipra Misra (DRDO), Biswanath Pal (Pal
Trockner), Pralay O Basu (Save the Environment NGO), Pratap Chakraborty (Aqua
Welfare Society NGO), Billy Dainja (This Life Cambodia NGO), Subhodip Ghosh
(Bengal Chamber of Commerce), Kumarjyoti Nath (Arsenic Task Force), SP Sinha Ray
(Centre for Groundwater Studies/ Arsenic Task Force), Sayan Banerjee (UCalcutta),
Tapan Saha (Institute of Environmental Studies and Wetland Management, Gov. West
Bengal), Bikash Bhawan (Central Groundwater Board, Gov. India) for all the help.
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Table of Contents
List of Abbreviations

1 Introduction, Context and Background 1
1.1 Introduction 1
1.2 Arsenic Pollution 2
1.3 Bengal Basin Background 3
1.3.1 Terminology 3
1.3.2 Tube Wells 3
1.3.3 Diagnosis of Arsenicosis 5
1.3.4 Symptoms and Treatment 6
1.4 Chemistry 7
1.5 Geoscience 7
1.5.1 Geomorphology and Stratigraphy 7
1.5.2 Aquifers and Hydrogeology 8
1.5.3 Geochemistry 9
1.6 Physiochemical Mechanisms used for Arsenic Removal 10
1.6.1 Oxidation 10
1.6.2 Co-precipitation / Coagulation 11
1.6.3 Sorption 13
1.6.4 Activated Alumina 13
1.6.5 Ion Exchange 14
1.6.6 Membranes 14
1.7 Arsenic-Rich Waste 15
1.7.1 Passive Aeration 16
1.7.2 Concrete Stabilization 16
1.7.3 Mixing with Cow Dung 17
1.7.4 Dumping 17
1.8 Aim and Objectives 18

2 Arsenic Mitigation Technologies Profiled 19
2.1 Community Scale Systems 20
2.1.1 Tipot 20
2.1.2 IITB 22
2.1.3 BESU 24
2.1.4 PalT/Harbr 26
2.1.5 AIIH&PH 28
2.1.6 CGCRI 30
2.1.7 Dug 32
2.2 Household Scale Systems 34
2.2.1 SONO45-25 34
2.2.2 UNICEF 35
2.2.3 DRDO 37
2.3 Summary 38

3 Assessment Methodology – PAM 40
3.1 Evaluations 40
3.1.1 ETV-AM Programme – Bangladesh 40
3.1.2 Arsenic Task Force – West Bengal 41
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