Removal of arsenic from drinking water using non-hazardous natural citrate sources

This study investigated the efficiency, cost-effectiveness and affordability to remove arsenic (As) from drinking water using Solar Radiation and Removal of Arsenic (SORAS) technique. Tomato was observed to be the most efficient and cost-effective natural citrate source in removal of As from both synthetic (removal efficiency: 78-98%) and natural (removal efficiency: 90-97%) groundwater compared to lemon (removal efficiency: 61-83% and 79-85%, respectively) and lime (removal efficiency: 39-69% and 63-70%, respectively). The changes in As/Fe molar ratio and citrate doses showed 'optimized central tendency' during As removal. The As/Fe molar ratio was found to be more important than initial As and iron (Fe) concentrations. The role of anti-oxidants such as hyroxycinnamates were very crucial for making tomato a better complexing agent than lemon or lime. This non-hazardous and user friendly technique can be practiced by the rural people with lower economic profile due to its high affordability and non-hazardous nature.