Arsenic contamination of groundwater is a serious public health problem in India. The chemical can cause cancers, neurological and cardiovascular diseases, and impaired cognitive function in children. Affected areas include alluvial regions such as West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Assam and Punjab, and hard-rock regions in Chhattisgarh and Karnataka. The Bengal basin has the highest incidence, with Patna, Vaishali, Bhagalpur, Munger and Buxar among the affected districts.
The work began as a high school project by brothers Arpit Kumar and Abhijeet Kumar from Bihar. For the National Children’s Science Congress they studied why technological solutions to arsenic often fail and focused on simple, community-friendly designs. They developed a magnetic separation method to remove arsenic; early descriptions note neodymium magnets attached to a steel conical structure through which water is passed. By 2019 they had refined the approach and tested it in the school laboratory. The technique evolved into the Molecular Magnetic Technology for Arsenic Removal (METAL), a chemical-free, low-cost method.
METAL powers the startup’s flagship product, MARU — the Magnetic Arsenic Removal Unit. The active separation core uses magnets made of metallic alloys of rare earth elements housed in a stainless-steel body. Shambhavi Sinha joined the team in 2022 as technology and analytics lead. Navmarg Research & Innovation Pvt. Ltd. was founded in 2023. The team reports they have purified over 300,000 litres, affected more than 4,000 lives and installed a 5,000 litres-per-hour municipal unit in Bhojpur district, Bihar.
Difficult words
- contamination — presence of harmful substances in water
- neurological — related to the brain and nerves
- alluvial — formed by river sediments on land
- magnetic separation — using magnets to remove unwanted material
- neodymium — a rare earth metal used in strong magnets
- chemical-free — made without using chemical substances
- alloy — a metal made by mixing two or more metalsalloys
- municipal — relating to a city or local government
- purify — made clean by removing harmful substancespurified
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Discussion questions
- What are the benefits of a chemical-free, low-cost water method for rural communities?
- Would you trust a magnetic system like MARU for drinking water in your area? Why or why not?
- How could schools or students help solve local environmental problems, based on the brothers' example?
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