Since the 1970’s, arsenic poisoning has caused the death of millions of people in South Asia. To this day, decades of comprehensive scientific research in laboratories of research institutions and effort on the ground has still not produced a sustainable solution to the problem. However, Dr. Case van Genuchten may possess the answer. We follow the young scientist in his attempt to implement a promising and innovative solution to what has been called the largest mass poisoning of a population in history.

My goal is to tell the story of how solutions to societal problems are produced in laboratories and implemented in the real world. This story will be told through the lens of Dr. van Genuchten’s years of challenges and triumphs in tackling the arsenic crisis in rural communities in South Asia. The arsenic crisis has gone unresolved for decades, and as a result, is directly responsible for millions of unnecessary deaths in South and Southeast Asia. With the unique case of widespread arsenic contamination in rural India as an example, I hope to capture the technical, cultural and political difficulties that face scientists and engineers who attempt to solve massive and complicated public health catastrophes. Arsenic contaminated water is often referred to as “The Devils Water” or “The Hidden Killer”. Arsenic is a dissolved metal that occurs naturally in soils that hold groundwater. Each day, at least 140 million people in Southern Asia are estimated to extract this source as their drinking-water supply. Chronic exposure to arsenic leads to neurodevelopment disorders, cancer, and death. This environmental disaster is occurring on unprecedented scale, which raises a handful of fundamental questions; What went wrong in 1970? Why hasn't it been solved yet? And finally, what does it take to develop a solution.

 The documentary will track Dr. van Genuchten in his search for answers, shining a light on his personality and his enthusiasm to create positive change. I wish to unveil how a modern scientist approaches the countless challenges that emerge when addressing major societal issues, particularly those that affect poor communities in decentralized areas without access to the infrastructure common in high-income countries. The viewer will participate in the evolution of an idea. They will experience the planning and development of a machine to be implemented in a decentralized village of India after 8 years of intensive work. Dr. van Genuchten will overcome personal struggles, while the viewer learns and becomes invested in his story. The audience will realize, while being led by our protagonist, that the implementation and sustainable operation of technologies in society requires a hands-on approach, and is certainly not limited to wearing a lab coat and gazing through a microscope.

Dr. van Genuchten has dedicated most of his twenties to creating a solution for this environmental and public health disaster. Having completed his PhD (2013) in the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department at the University of California, Berkeley, his research has focused on developing the first possible sustainable solution to the arsenic crisis in collaboration with universities and research insitutions across India, Europe and the United States, and a larger team of engineers, social scientists, economists, and local operators. The largest prototype of this technology has been implemented in a rural community in the outskirts of Kolkata, West Bengal, India.