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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, February 2004, p. 1145-1151, Vol. 70, No. 2
0099-2240/04/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/AEM.70.2.1145-1150.2004
Copyright © 2004, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Disinfection of Contaminated Water by Using Solar Irradiation

Laurie F. Caslake,1 Daniel J. Connolly,2,{dagger} Vilas Menon,2,{ddagger} Catriona M. Duncanson,2 Ricardo Rojas,3 and Javad Tavakoli2*

Department of Biology,1 Department of Chemical Engineering, Lafayette College, Easton, Pennsylvania 18042,2 Centro Panamericano de Ingenieria Sanitaria y Ciencias del Ambiente (CEPIS), Lima 100, Peru3

Received 1 August 2003/ Accepted 17 November 2003

Contaminated water causes an estimated 6 to 60 billion cases of gastrointestinal illness annually. The majority of these cases occur in rural areas of developing nations where the water supply remains polluted and adequate sanitation is unavailable. A portable, low-cost, and low-maintenance solar unit to disinfect unpotable water has been designed and tested. The solar disinfection unit was tested with both river water and partially processed water from two wastewater treatment plants. In less than 30 min in midday sunlight, the unit eradicated more than 4 log10 U (99.99%) of bacteria contained in highly contaminated water samples. The solar disinfection unit has been field tested by Centro Panamericano de Ingenieria Sanitaria y Ciencias del Ambiente in Lima, Peru. At moderate light intensity, the solar disinfection unit was capable of reducing the bacterial load in a controlled contaminated water sample by 4 log10 U and disinfected approximately 1 liter of water in 30 min.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Chemical Engineering, Lafayette College, Easton, PA 18042. Phone: (610) 330-5433. Fax: (610) 330-5059. E-mail: Tavakoli{at}Lafayette.edu.

{dagger} Present address: Rohm and Haas Co., Spring House, PA 19477.

{ddagger} Present address: Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, February 2004, p. 1145-1151, Vol. 70, No. 2
0099-2240/04/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/AEM.70.2.1145-1150.2004
Copyright © 2004, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.





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