Beyond the experiment

Sam Lee, a former member of the RISE program from the University of Michigan, took a field trip to Pingyao, which, he says, enabled him to see a different part of China.

"It was nice to learn more about the local people and culture," he says.

While for Muhammad Khan, a Pakistani student, being a part of the arsenic removal program has inspired him to solve similar issues back home.

He grew up in Lahore in eastern Pakistan, where the levels of arsenic in the groundwater are also very high. A study in the journal Science Advances found that 50 to 60 million people in the country use groundwater with likely over 50 micrograms per liter arsenic contamination.

"This is the problem we are facing in my country," he says. "RISE has conducted and implemented the project in Shanxi province, which was very successful."

Khan once organized a medical camp offering free medication to poor people, and says most people who asked for medicine were sick due to the arsenic contamination of the water.

"The core problem is the water. It's not the disease," says the PhD candidate from Tsinghua's School of Environment. "We have to target the primary cause instead of spending money on medicine."

This year, Khan plans to work with other RISE members on a research project in Pakistan among arsenic concentrated areas like Lahore and Tharparkar.

"I will definitely involve the students in my country from different universities to collaborate with the RISE program to make a joint group for helping people who are drinking contaminated water," he says.

"It will bring a positive change and improve the lives of the poor people who don't have enough money to support themselves."

Prior to the project in Pingyao, the RISE team worked on water-related projects in Gansu province and in Ningxia.