Evaluation of the sustainability of deep groundwater as an arsenic-safe resource in the Bengal Basin
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Abstract
Tens of millions of people in the Bengal Basin region of Bangladesh and India drink groundwater containing unsafe concentrations of arsenic. This high-arsenic groundwater is produced from shallow (<100 m) depths by domestic and irrigation wells in the Bengal Basin aquifer system. The government of Bangladesh has begun to install wells to depths of >150 m where groundwater arsenic concentrations are nearly uniformly low, and many more wells are needed, however, the sustainability of deep, arsenic-safe groundwater has not been previously assessed. Deeper pumping could induce downward migration of dissolved arsenic, permanently destroying the deep resource. Here, it is shown, through quantitative, large-scale hydrogeologic analysis and simulation of the entire basin, that the deeper part of the aquifer system may provide a sustainable source of arsenic-safe water if its utilization is limited to domestic supply. Simulations provide two explanations for this result: deep domestic pumping only slightly perturbs the deep groundwater flow system, and substantial shallow pumping for irrigation forms a hydraulic barrier that protects deeper resources from shallow arsenic sources. Additional analysis indicates that this simple management approach could provide arsenic-safe drinking water to >90% of the arsenic-impacted region over a 1,000-year timescale. This insight may assist water-resources managers in alleviating one of the world's largest groundwater contamination problems.
| Publication type | Article |
|---|---|
| Publication Subtype | Journal Article |
| Title | Evaluation of the sustainability of deep groundwater as an arsenic-safe resource in the Bengal Basin |
| Series title | Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America |
| DOI | 10.1073/pnas.0710477105 |
| Volume | 105 |
| Issue | 25 |
| Year Published | 2008 |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | PNAS |
| Contributing office(s) | National Research Program - Eastern Branch |
| Description | 6 p. |
| First page | 8531 |
| Last page | 8536 |
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