Dual PhD projects (Melbourne and Manchester Universities): groundwater fluoride removal and arsenic remediation approaches in India.

The University of Melbourne and University of Manchester have partnered to support a dual PhD project.

• Melbourne-based PhD project: Improved Decision Making for Fluoride Removal from Groundwater in Peri-urban Indian Communities Lacking Centralised Water Supply.
• Manchester-based PhD project: Selection and Management of Groundwater Arsenic Remediation Approaches for Improved Water Security in Northern India.

Melbourne-based PhD project: The aim of this PhD project is to develop a suite of cost effective and user-friendly fluoride removal systems/filters adaptable for household or community use along with a robust and effective toolkit for the selection and management of groundwater fluoride remediation strategies in fluoride impacted areas of West Bengal.

Fluoride is one of the most widespread endemic health problems associated with natural geochemistry (Arora et al, 2004).  People in 29 countries are affected with ‘fluorosis’ due to intake of fluoride-rich water including India, where over 120 million people are impacted by elevated fluoride. It has been considered a double-edged sword, as evidence suggests that low fluoride concentrations (~ 0.5 – 1 mg/L) may reduce the risk of dental caries, but that detrimental human health impacts such as dental and skeletal fluorosis occur with increasing risk at higher fluoride concentrations (> 1.5 mg/L) (WHO 2019).  Most of the rural and peri-urban communities in fluoride endemic regions in India lack access to centralised water supply and rely on untreated groundwater to meet most domestic and agricultural water demand, and thus can be particularly vulnerable to the impacts of fluoride (Arora and Maheshwari 2006).

Manchester-based PhD project: The aim of this PhD project is to contribute to the development and validation of a robust and effective toolkit for the selection and/or management of groundwater arsenic remediation strategies in arsenic-impacted areas of the Gangetic Basin in northern India (such as Patna).

Globally, the contamination of groundwater from naturally occurring arsenic is a major public health threat impacting the health and livelihoods of millions of people, particularly in South/Southeast Asia.  Arsenic is specifically identified as a key parameter in the Sustainable Development Goals as a remediation target for provision of safe drinking water sources.  In India, groundwater arsenic is a major problem particularly in shallow, reducing aquifers of the Gangetic Basin where groundwater reliance is increasingly high.  Despite the prevalence of several remediation strategies which can theoretically be effective at reducing arsenic concentrations in certain circumstances, effective and sustainable implementation of remediation strategies remains very challenging for technical and non-technical reasons.  There is a clear need for improved decision support tools for the selection and management of arsenic remediation strategies particularly in this context.

Timeframe: Jan 2023 to June 2026.

The structure of the PhD will see the student spend at least 12 months at each university, as well as paired visits where both students are present either in Manchester or Melbourne to facilitate collaboration and maximize peer learning and support.

Project leads: Dr Meenakshi Arora (University of Melbourne) and Dr. Laura Richards (University of Manchester)

Collaborators:  Assoc. Prof. Suzie Reichman (University of Melbourne) and Prof. David Polya (University of Manchester)

Research students: Akshay Kashyap and Ajmal Roshan

Funding / sponsors: University of Melbourne and University of Manchester

Contacts

Dr Meenakshi Arora     |     Dr. Suzie Reichman     |    Dr. Laura Richards