Content provided in partnership with
A Win for Clean Water
ASEE Prism, Summer 2007 by Grose, Thomas
LOW-TECH
- Most Popular Articles in Reference
- The importance of understanding organizational culture
- Credit card attitudes and behaviors of college students
- What factors attract foreign direct investment?
- Libraries Need Relationship Marketing - mutual interest marketing concept, ...
- How to set performance goals: employee reviews are more than annual critiques
- More »
TENS OF MILLIONS of people in the developing world are at risk of arsenic poisoning from contaminated drinking water. Arsenic can cause cancers, kidney and liver failure and death. In Bangladesh, the problem is endemic. But for five years now, Abul Hussam and his brothers have been installing SONO household water filters in many Bangladeshi villages-nearly 100 so far. The SONO filtration system was invented by Hussam, an associate professor of chemistry and biochemistry at Virginia's George Mason University. It's a cheap and relatively simple device that removes arsenic from drinking water by filtering it through locally available river sand, a composite iron matrix, wood charcoal and wet brick chips. Now Hussam has been awarded the $1 million 2007 Grainger Challenge Prize for Sustainability Gold Award from the National Academy of Engineering for his efforts. Hussam, who is Bangladeshi, has a B.S. and M.S. in chemistry from the University of Dhaka and a Ph.D. in analytical chemistry from the University of Pittsburgh. He also has established an environmental research laboratory in his hometown of Kushtia. Says Hussam: "It is truly gratifying to see results of our scientific knowledge at work in the field for the betterment of human conditions." -TG
Copyright AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR ENGINEERING EDUCATION Summer 2007
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved
Find Research Guides for:
Find Featured Titles for: Autos
Most Popular Articles in Reference
- The importance of understanding organizational culture
- Credit card attitudes and behaviors of college students
- What factors attract foreign direct investment?
- Libraries Need Relationship Marketing - mutual interest marketing concept, ...
- How to set performance goals: employee reviews are more than annual critiques
- More »