Arsenic contamination of drinking water poses significant health risks to millions of people worldwide. Current cleanup technologies have substantial drawbacks, including high cost and high-volume toxic byproducts. Edenspace Systems Corporation proposes to propose to study the ability of a recently identified arsenic-hyperaccumulating fern to remove arsenic from drinking water. The investigator's preliminary research demonstrates that this fern is able to concentrate arsenic to levels more than 16,000 fold higher than the concentration in the soil solution and to rapidly remove arsenic from water containing 200 ug/L of arsenic, 4-fold higher than the current drinking water standard. In the proposed research, the investigators will study the ability of this fern to reduce arsenic levels below the proposed EPA drinking water limit of 5 ug/L by varying factors (plant density, water pH, chlorination/fluoridation, and arsenic species) that are likely to affect arsenic removal rates from drinking water and will also test both a batch and a flow-through technique for phytofiltration of arsenic-contaminated drinking water. This research will provide the foundation for development of a solar-powered (photosynthetic) hydroponics technique, enabling cost-effective, small-scale cleanup of arsenic-contaminated drinking water.
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