IISc team develops nanoparticle-based solution to reduce heavy metals in groundwater

Researchers at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) have developed a nanomaterial-based solution that can effectively reduce the presence of heavy metals like chromium in groundwater.

Groundwater is an essential source of drinking water across the country. However, heavy metal contamination in groundwater presents a significant health hazard, IISc said in a media statement.

The team includes researchers from the Centre for Sustainable Technologies (CST), Department of Civil Engineering (CiE), and Department of Instrumentation and Applied Physics (IAP). The study is published in the Journal of Water Process Engineering.


Chromium typically enters soil and groundwater through effluents from industries such as leather tanning, electroplating, and textile manufacturing. “Heavy metals enter the environment because of urbanisation and certain mismanagement by industries,” according to Prathima Basavaraju, PhD student at CST and lead author of the study.

Most current methods for removing heavy metal contamination rely on pumping out water from the ground, followed by purification using chemical precipitation, adsorption, ion exchange and reverse osmosis carried out at a different location. The IISc team instead proposes an on-site alternative which involves using iron nanoparticles that can remediate the heavy metals. “If the groundwater is contaminated, we can inject these nanoparticles into the subsurface groundwater region where it will react with the chromium and immobilise it, resulting in clear water, " Prathima said.