Abul Hussam, an associate professor of chemistry at the George Mason University has developed an innovative solution for removing arsenic from drinking water. It is known as the SONO filter. This household water treatment system is being manufactured and distributed in Bangladesh by Hussam and his brothers (Hussam is from Bangladesh). He has been doing this for five years. According to him the filter has been instrumental in stopping the spread of arsenic poisoning in at least 100 villages in Bangladesh. Before this, Bangladesh’s tube wells ( 4 million tube wells have been installed in Bangladesh since 1998!) had water containing arsenic around 10-50 times above the safety levels!

How does SONO Filter work? It is a point-of-use method for removing arsenic from drinking water. A top bucket is filled with locally available coarse river sand and a composite iron matrix (CIM). The sand filters coarse particles and imparts mechanical stability, while the CIM removes inorganic arsenic. The water then flows into a second bucket where it again filters through coarse river sand, then wood charcoal to remove organics, and finally through fine river sand and wet brick chips to remove fine particles and stabilize water flow.

Now, Abul Hussam has got another recognition – he has won the National Academy of Engineering’s Grainger Challenge Prize for Sustainability Gold Award. The prize is a million dollars. Kudos, Abul Hussam!

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