High-tech filters to remove arsenic from contaminated water supplies are too expensive for most of the 20 million people affected worldwide. Now there鈥檚 a more affordable alternative: a tube filled with volcanic rock. Akira Ohki at Kagoshima University in Japan packed a vertical tube with lumps of volcanic rock called shirasu, abundant in the Kyushu region of Japan. Then he poured contaminated water through it. After a single pass, 85 per cent of the arsenic had been removed. Ohki says the arsenic ions in the solution bind to aluminium hydroxide in the surface of the rock. Shirasu is a plentiful and unused resource in Japan, which could make it an effective contender for purifying water, Ohki says. 鈥淭he cost for shirasu is considerably lower than ordinary commercial adsorbents.鈥
More from New Scientist
Explore the latest news, articles and features
Technology
Test moderators use AI-generated writing to judge literacy standards
News
Mind
THC in cannabis may reduce nightmares in people with PTSD
News
Environment
Fishers detonate a bomb every hour on one Indonesian coral reef
News
Environment
How bad is the UK drought and how long will it continue?
News
Popular articles
Trending New Scientist articles