Drinking Water Treatment

ACS symposium honors water researcher

March 21, 2022

A three-day symposium at the Spring 2022 meeting of the American Chemical Society will honor Arup SenGupta for his contributions to water science and technology.

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Arup K. SenGupta’s wide-ranging contributions to water science and technology is being recognized at the Spring 2022 meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS) through a three-day symposium, titled “Ion Exchange, Sustainable Separations, & Humanitarian Engineering.”

SenGupta is a professor in the departments of civil and environmental engineering and chemical and biomolecular in Lehigh University’s P.C. Rossin College of Engineering and Applied Science.

Over his career, he has distinguished himself as “one of the world’s foremost experts in environmental applications of ion-exchange processes,” while also making significant contributions to the “understanding of Donnan-based processes, ligand exchange, and other environmental separation processes through his research, books, patents, and humanitarian work,” according to the symposium description.

The symposium is a tremendous honor, says SenGupta. “I consider this as a matter of pride for my departments, the Rossin College, and Lehigh University.”

According to organizers, the symposium “will not only honor SenGupta’s research contributions to water chemistry, water/wastewater treatment, and protection of water resources, but also celebrate his extension of that knowledge to safeguard the drinking water quality for people in poor communities around the world.”

Among his best-known accomplishments is HIX-Nano (Hybrid Ion Exchange Nanotechnology), a filtration nanotechnology resin that removes arsenic and fluoride from water. The technology, which was developed by his research team at Lehigh, is used to provide arsenic-safe drinking water to millions of people.

Nearly fifty papers will be presented (via a mix of in person and virtual formats) during the 2022 ACS Arup K. SenGupta Symposium, which will cover ion exchange, adsorption, and other related physicochemical processes for water/wastewater treatment and resource recovery.

ACS Spring 2022 takes place March 20-24 in San Diego, Calif.