UT Faculty Awarded Grant to Investigate Geologic Layering in Water Wells in Bangladesh
Does arsenic mitigation in Bangladesh raise exposure to bacterial and viral pathogens?
UT faculty members Larry McKay (Dept. Earth and Planetary Sciences) and Alice Layton (Center for Environmental Biotechnology) have recently been awarded a $242,000 grant from the National Institute of Health (NIH) to investigate the influence of geologic layering on the occurrence of arsenic and disease-causing microorganisms in water wells in Bangladesh.
UT is one of four universities involved in a collaborative effort led by Dr. Lex van Geen at Columbia University. Drinking water from wells in Bangladesh are often contaminated with high levels of naturally occurring arsenic, which poses a major health threat. Dr. van Geen observed that villages with arsenic poisoning tended to have very low rates of occurrence of dysentery and other diseases associated with drinking microbially-contaminated water. The proposed research is examining this phenomena and trying to determine whether it's controlled by the local geology. It appears likely that the presence of fine-grained soil layers, which are conducive to arsenic accumulation in the groundwater, may be providing protection from downward migration of fecal bacteria and viruses. If this is confirmed, then simple methods like soil mapping, surface geophysics and remote sensing may be used to help determine the susceptibility of groundwater to either of these types of contamination, which can lead to avoidance of the worst water sources and more effective water treatment for the remaining sources.
Dr. McKay is focusing on the hydrogeological aspects of the problem, including the influence of fine-grained sediment layers on microbial transport. Dr. Layton is a microbiologist with substantial experience in viral and bacterial detection and is looking at both occurrence of microorganisms and the influence of arsenic on their survival. Field investigations are expected to begin in early 2008, with a sampling team from UT, Columbia, North Carolina - Chapel Hill and Barnard College making a trip to Bangladesh.