Arsenic contamination of groundwater in the Red River Delta in Vietnam, VietAs Phase II

project summary

The use of groundwater for drinking water has been promoted by DANIDA and other aid organisations in both Vietnam and Bangladesh. Unfortunately it was discovered that the groundwater in these countries may contain far too much arsenic, leading to mass poisoning at an unprecedented scale. 11 million people are at risk in Vietnam and more than 100 million people worldwide. The poor rural population without access to advanced water treatment is most exposed to arsenic poisoning. There is a great need for devising strategies that may mitigate the groundwater arsenic problem. Unfortunately we still lack the fundamental understanding of arsenic mobilization processes, which is required to devise such strategies. In addition the affected countries need more expertise to properly handle the situation. The objectives of Phase II of VietAs aim at improving this situation by: (a) strengthening the Vietnamese research capacity in the field of groundwater, and; (b) improving the knowledge of the geochemical and hydrogeological processes that control the release and transport of arsenic in groundwater. Objective a) will be addressed by conducting cooperative research, educating staff, Ph.D and M.Sc. students and giving Short Courses. Objective b) will be addressed by studying the mechanisms leading to arsenic mobilization, the flushing of arsenic from aquifers and the hydrogeological controlling factors. Gained insight will be incorporated in models which we will employ to work out scenarios for the implementation of low arsenic groundwater abstraction strategies. The prospects of achieving our goals in Phase II are good because we have used Phase 1 to: a) build up an internationally recognised, multidisciplinary group of researchers covering geochemistry, hydrogeology, geology, and numerical modelling; b) establish a well instrumented field site for research on arsenic in groundwater, and; (c) have established efficient cooperation with highly qualified and motivated Vietnamese research teams. Phase II will give us the opportunity in a joint effort to make a major step forward towards solving the groundwater arsenic problem.