IMPROVED SAFE MANAGEMENT OF ARSENIC-RICH WASTE GENERATED FROM ARSENIC REMOVAL PLANT

The presence of high arsenic concentration in water for human consumption posed serious health risks to millions of people in the world, requiring the installation of removal plants. This led to a significant increased amount of As-rich waste, mainly iron based sludge and exhausted filtering materials. Environmental impact of the produced waste materials is now of concern and different improved safe management options are developed in different contexts. Possible safe stabilization of As-rich sludge in cement and bricks is a feasible reuse practice in India while in Europe, landfill burying is the only allowed solution. Our bioreactor experiment clearly show that an optimized evaluation procedure should be developed to properly assess impact since in landfill environment, anaerobic and organic matter rich, possible As release from Fe oxy-hydroxide is promoted by bacteria driven processes.