Mechanism of Treatment Methods of Arsenic-Contaminated Water

Water contamination by arsenic and health issues associated with the contaminated water are worldwide problems. Arsenic contamination in drinking water is causing severe health effects leading to death. The removal of arsenic (As) can be achieved by different methods, and it depends upon the composition of contaminated water. Treatment methods either transfer the pollutants from one phase to another or chemically oxidize to less toxic form. Separation and degradation methods include adsorption, chemical coagulation, membrane processes, electrocoagulation, chemical oxidation, and advanced oxidation processes; and biological methods including biological oxidation, phytoremediation, etc. are found to be efficient for the removal of As from water medium. There are several factors which have influence on each process; the removal efficiency depends upon the optimized conditions. This chapter provides a detailed review on the existing efforts for the As removal from aqueous medium, their advantages and limitations, etc