Avnet India Pvt Ltd has joined forces with the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore, to tackle one of India’s most pressing environmental challenges – arsenic contamination in groundwater.
The collaboration aims to advance sustainable solutions for remediating arsenic from groundwater, with a focus on developing a zero-waste method to detoxify arsenic before disposal.
Arsenic contamination of groundwater is widespread in various regions of India, notably along the floodplains of the Brahmaputra River in Assam and the banks of the Ganges in West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, and Delhi. Recognizing the critical importance of addressing this issue, which affects 50 million people in India alone, Avnet India has sponsored essential safety and experimental equipment at the Sustainable Separation Solutions group within the Centre for Sustainable Technologies at IISc.
The grant from Avnet India enables researchers and scientists to conduct groundbreaking research on zero-waste arsenic remediation. The application of research outcomes will significantly benefit these affected areas and will also make the technology more sustainable. While other existing arsenic remediation technologies do not offer safe-handling strategies for the arsenic removed from groundwater, the current method ensures its remediation before disposal into the environment.
Suresh Kamath, Managing Director, Avnet India, said: “At Avnet, we strongly believe in the transformative power of collaboration and innovation in empowering communities and promoting a healthier, more prosperous future for all. This collaborative effort with IISc underscores our joint dedication to addressing the challenges of arsenic contamination in groundwater. Together, we are committed to ensuring access to safe and clean drinking water for present and future generations in India.’’
“As we strive for clean water and healthy living, it’s crucial to raise awareness about hidden threats like arsenic contamination. Through collaboration with partners like Avnet India, we’re proud to support initiatives that address these challenges and pave the way for a better future for generations to come,” said Prof. Madhavi Latha, Chair of the Centre for Sustainable Technologies, IISc
Avnet is focused on environmentally sustainable business practices that benefit our society and our world, in addition to our focus on sustainability for our company. In this spirit, we’re proud to support this research project which will focus on developing a bio-adsorbent-based treatment method along with a sustainable method to isolate adsorbed impurities and recycle the chemical agents involved in this isolation. Adsorption is the process in which molecules are attracted onto the surface of a solid. Furthermore, the arsenic isolated from groundwater will be remediated to benign levels in the developed process. The prototype will be created and designed with a proposed zero-waste arsenic remediation process catering to 50 L/d (drinking water and cooking water requirement for one family), with initial setup in the arsenic-affected areas of West Bengal, India.
