Ashok Gadgil hopes to decontaminate water with simple filters made of ash coated with a compound that attracts arsenic.
Innovative technology could also help California comply with tighter U.S. EPA standards for arsenic in drinking water
Contact: Dan Krotz, (510) 486-4019, dakrotz@lbl.gov
BERKELEY, CA – Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) scientist Ashok Gadgil is developing a cheap and effective way to provide safe drinking water to 60 million Bangladeshis who live under the specter of arsenic poisoning. His idea is to create arsenic filters from coal ash, the fine gray powder that piles up at the bottom of furnaces at all coal-fired power stations, waiting to be discarded.