As episodes of extreme heat and drought dry up surface water, California is looking at ways to find drinking water elsewhere.
And the solution could be underground. The problem? Groundwater can present dangerous levels of arsenic for consumption.
Researchers at the University of California Berkeley looked at 20 years of water quality data from the Kern Valley State Prison and three nearby Central Valley rural communities. They found persistent levels of naturally-occurring arsenic, in water coming from all aquifers, sometimes exceeding the federal contamination levels for months or years.
And while cities and larger municipalities can invest in water treatment to remove arsenic from their water, rural or low-income communities often cannot afford these costs, and need to rely on bottled water.
Now, a group of UC Berkeley engineers may hold the solution, to provide safe-drinking water to all.
They are currently testing a low-cost arsenic treatment solution in Allensworth. Ashok Gadgil, professor of civil and environmental engineering at UC Berkeley, is leading the operation. He told Bay City News,"For the first time, we'll be treating groundwater with high levels of arsenic at a price local people can afford and in a way that they can operate.”
