Arsenic is a toxic element that exists in different forms in nature and can be accumulated by various biota and environmental media. Current techniques for the environmental monitoring of arsenic are usually sophisticated, time consuming and inappropriate for on-site analyses. We are developing a simple and rapid colourimetric quantitative method based on a colour complex formed by silver ion impregnated on a filter paper with arsine gas produced from arsenic ion reduction by hydrogen generated from zinc and sulfamic acid reaction in the sample. In this report we describe effects of drying of the silver ion impregnated filter paper and exposing period of this test paper to the arsine gas. The data obtained are digitized and used to develop a model for arsenic (V) ion estimation. The study reveals that when 4.0 g of sulfamic acid and 2.0 g of zinc powder are used to reduce 50 ml of arsenic solution sample, the drying and exposure periods needed are 20 seconds and 10 minutes, respectively. The best fitted model that relates arsenic (V) concentration (Ac) and the red colour intensity value (R) is Ac =120.1 – 1.071R. This model can accurately estimate the arsenic (V) concentration from 0 to 100 µg/l.