Turning Poison into Economic Opportunity

According to World Health Organization (WHO), more than 200 million resource-poor people are threatened with arsenic poisoning by drinking contaminated groundwater in South and Southeast Asia, and other regions of the world. In this university podcast, host Sheila Sethuraman speaks with Arup SenGupta, professor of civil, environmental, and chemical engineering at Lehigh University, about his project to eliminate arsenic from groundwater without using electricity or chemicals. SenGupta describes the successes and challenges of this project, which has created economic opportunity in the developing world and has helped more than 200,000 people benefit from cleaner water. Arup SenGupta is the P.C. Rossin Professor of civil and environmental engineering and also of chemical engineering at Lehigh University. His award-winning research has expanded the field of ion exchange science and technology in solving critical environmental problems, and has led to the development of new classes of hybrid ion exchangers that have been incorporated into water and wastewater treatment processes globally. SenGupta teaches courses in environmental chemistry, reaction kinetics in environmental engineering, and environmental separation and control. https://ssir.org/podcasts/entry/turning_poison_into_economic_opportunity