Removal of arsenite from water by soil biotechnology

In this paper we present oxidation of As(III) to As(V) by formulated media via natural oxidation in Soil Biotechnology (SBT) and subsequent co-precipitation by ferric chloride. SBT houses an engineered ecology of formulated media containing selected micro and macroorganisms, such as earthworms, and indicator plants. In SBT, fundamental chemical reactions of nature, such as respiration, photosynthesis and mineral weathering, are integrated and synergised together with microbial diversity which is very active in formulated media. It is found that residual arsenic in water via SBT is below 10 ppb. It is also shown that arsenic content on solid iron residue after SBT is 150 mu g/mg of iron