Kolkata: The Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) in collaboration with a private company has developed a new device which can be used to detect and remove arsenic content from water and make it safe and usable by households.
The device – ‘Arsenic Sensor and Removal Media – is an effective system with low production cost, IISER Director Sourav Pal told a press meet here Wednesday.
An IISER research team, led by Dr Raja Shunmugam, developed the arsenic sensor in the laboratory of a leading manufacturer of chemicals. The arsenic sensor would show an immediate change in colour in arsenic contaminated water, he said.
The Shantiswarup Bhatnagar award recipient Dr T Ramasami, who was present said, “Primarily the general public is aware about arsenic presence in water. But whether that is beyond threshold – unsafe or safe levels – they do not know.”
Ramasami said, “The arsenic sensing methodology has very simple and household detection principle. But knowing whether the arsenic content is within or above safe limits will only increase anxiety and hence the company came out with a cartridge which can remove arsenic from water and make it safe.”
The IISER official said, 83 blocks in eight districts of West Bengal – Burdwan, Malda, Hooghly, Howrah, Murshidabad, Nadia, North and South 24 Parganas – were hit by arsenic contamination.
