The Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) in collaboration with a private company has developed a new device which can be used to detect and remove arsenic content from water and make it safe and usable by households.

The device - 'Arsenic Sensor and Removal Media - is an effective system with low production cost, IISER Director Sourav Pal said.

An IISER research team, led by Dr Raja Shunmugam, developed the arsenic sensor in the laboratory of a leading manufacturer of chemicals.

The arsenic sensor would show an immediate change in colour in arsenic contaminated water, he said.

The Shantiswarup Bhatnagar award recipient Dr T Ramasami, who was present said, "Primarily the general public is aware about arsenic presence in water. But whether that is beyond threshold - unsafe or safe levels - they do not know.",

The participant company 'ADO Additive's Managing Director Sanjib Parial said, "The product will provide a holistic approach in immediate detection of arsenic contamination levels from available water resources and thereafter producing arsenic-free potable water."

The IISER official said, 83 blocks in eight districts of West Bengal - Burdwan, Malda, Hooghly, Howrah, Murshidabad, Nadia, North and South 24 Parganas - were hit by arsenic contamination.