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Assessing the impact of seasonal groundwater variability on the performance of arsenic removal by iron amended ceramic filter

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Abstract

Iron (Fe) amended ceramic filters (CFs) have been proven to be the sustainable, low-cost method for arsenic (As) removal from groundwater. The impact of seasonal fluctuations in groundwater composition on CFs’ performance has not been passably investigated. The present study assessed the seasonal variability of groundwater quality influencing removal by CFs. Five ceramic filter units made of low-cost ceramic filters and iron netting were installed and monitored in rural households in the Southeastern region of Bangladesh during wet and dry seasons. Raw groundwater and CFs effluents were randomly sampled and analyzed in both seasons. The groundwater redox potential (Eh) and electrical conductivity (EC) decreased by 13–40% and 5–13% in the wet season and shifted toward more reducing conditions. A significant increase of As (20–58%), Fe (13–57%), and P (20–55%) concentrations was observed in the wet season. A strong positive correlation (R2 = 0.778) was identified between changing concentrations of As and Fe in both wet and dry seasons. The As, Fe, and P concentration fluctuations were likely associated with changes in the groundwater recharge pattern over the monitoring seasons. Despite the seasonal changes in groundwater composition, the CFs were successful in removing As, Fe, P, and Mn from the groundwater. Higher levels of Fe were required during the wet season, and iron netting was used to ensure the removal of As below the Bangladesh standard limit of 50 µg/L. The low-cost CFs can be implemented in As-affected regions with varying groundwater characteristics to comply with the drinking water demand in rural areas.

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Data availability

The datasets generated during and (or) analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

The research students from Ritsumeikan University, Japan, and Khulna University of Engineering and Technology, Bangladesh are greatly acknowledged for their assistance in the filter operations and data collection.

Funding

No funding was obtained for this study.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Civil Engineering, College of Engineering, Qassim University, Buraydah, 51452, Saudi Arabia

    Md. Shafiquzzaman, Husnain Haider, Mohammad Alresheedi, Saleem S. AlSaleem & Abdul Razzaq Ghumman

  2. Department of Civil Engineering, Bangladesh Army University of Science and Technology, Saidpur, 5310, Bangladesh

    Md. Mahmudul Hasan

  3. Department of Environmental Water Resources and Coastal Engineering, Military Institute of Science and Technology (MIST), Mirpur Cantonment, Dhaka, 1216, Bangladesh

    Mohammad Shafiul Azam

  4. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Islamic University of Technology (IUT), Gazipur, Bangladesh

    Amimul Ahsan

  5. Department of Civil and Construction Engineering, Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, Australia

    Amimul Ahsan

  6. Department of Civil Engineering, Khulna University of Engineering & Technology, Khulna, 9203, Bangladesh

    Quazi Hamidul Bari

Authors
  1. Md. Shafiquzzaman
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  2. Md. Mahmudul Hasan
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  3. Mohammad Shafiul Azam
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  4. Husnain Haider
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  5. Mohammad Alresheedi
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  6. Saleem S. AlSaleem
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  7. Abdul Razzaq Ghumman
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  8. Amimul Ahsan
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  9. Quazi Hamidul Bari
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Contributions

Md. Shafiquzzaman: Conceptualization, Data curation, formal analysis, Supervision, Writing - original draft. Md. Mahmudul Hasan: Data curation, Methodology, Mohammad Shafiul Azam:, Formal analysis Investigation, Husnain Haider: Visualization, Writing - review & editing. Mohammad Alresheedi: Resources, Writing - review & editing. Saleem S. AlSaleem: Writing - review & editing Abdul Razzaq Ghumman: Writing - review & editing, Amimul Ahsan: Writing - review & editing, Quazi Hamidul Bari: Writing - review & editing.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Md. Shafiquzzaman.

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Shafiquzzaman, M., Hasan, M.M., Azam, M.S. et al. Assessing the impact of seasonal groundwater variability on the performance of arsenic removal by iron amended ceramic filter. Sustain. Water Resour. Manag. 10, 102 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40899-024-01088-1

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