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Originally Posted by billah
The study is suggesting that deeply dug ponds become collecting basin for arsenic. This arsenic then seeps down and quickly finds it's way to groundwater sources.
Where does it come from? The study does not address. It also does not say why we were not affected a thousand years ago. We have been digging ponds for a very long time in this region.
I don't buy this study. We are a monsoon country with average rainfall of about 100 inches a year. Having man-made lakes is our first line of defense against India's water manipulation hegemony. No amount of upstream dams can stop us from harvesting our own rain water. This study indirectly discourages us from storing water.
I have issues with these findings.
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Arsenic is a naturally occuring substance. Its also used in many chemicals.
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs210/en/
Source
- Arsenic is widely distributed throughout the earth's crust.
- Arsenic is introduced into water through the dissolution of minerals and ores, and concentrations in groundwater in some areas are elevated as a result of erosion from local rocks.
- Industrial effluents also contribute arsenic to water in some areas.
- Arsenic is also used commercially e.g. in alloying agents and wood preservatives.
- Combustion of fossil fuels is a source of arsenic in the environment through disperse atmospheric deposition.
- Inorganic arsenic can occur in the environment in several forms but in natural waters, and thus in drinking-water, it is mostly found as trivalent arsenite (As(III)) or pentavalent arsenate (As (V)). Organic arsenic species, abundant in seafood, are very much less harmful to health, and are readily eliminated by the body.
- Drinking-water poses the greatest threat to public health from arsenic. Exposure at work and mining and industrial emissions may also be significant locally
Also I don't see where they mention anything about building upstream dams? They suggest building deeper wells to bypass the ponds.
And its not telling you to stop storing water. Its just suggesting that may be the reason for all the arsenic poisoning, and that they should do something about it.