Treated Water That's Too Pure Lets Arsenic Sneak In

The study was conducted on water from the Orange County Water District, which purifies wastewater with a comprehensive process including microfiltration, reverse osmosis, and UV light treatments. That purified water is then injected into a local aquifer. Over an approximately six-month residence time, that purified water accumulated trace amounts of arsenic. Geoscientists were called in to help solve the mystery of its occurrence. Learn the source of the arsenic and how the local geology and water chemistry interacted in the latest story from EARTH Magazine: http://bit.ly/1Z206v8

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Start 2016 with the exciting stories in EARTH Magazine that bring research to life. Follow along as paleontologists and archaeologists excavate one of the greatest paleontological finds in North America, including mastodons, mammoths and ground sloths; explore how ancient African villages can shed light on the history of the Earth’s magnetic field; and find out just how deep life can be found beneath the seafloor at www.earthmagazine.org.