Capability of 19-litre polycarbonate plastic water cooler containers for efficient solar water disinfection (SODIS): field case studies in India, Bahrain and Spain.

摘要

The small treated volume (typically ~2 litres) associated with polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles that are most frequently used in solar water disinfection (SODIS), is a major obstacle to uptake of this water treatment technology in the developing world. In order to address this problem we have conducted a series of experiments in Spain, Bahrain and India, to assess the efficacy of large volume (19 litres) transparent plastic (polycarbonate) water cooler/dispenser containers (WDCs) as SODIS reactors to inactivate Escherichia coli and Enterococcus faecalis, under strong natural sunlight. Reduction values of 6 log10 units (LRV = 6.0) have been observed using WDCs in each location. Additional comparisons between 2-L PET bottles and 19-L indicate that WDCs provide bacterial inactivation similar in both systems. SODIS disinfection experiments in turbid water (100 NTU) in both reactors showed very good inactivation efficiency. LRVs of 7.2 and 7.8 were obtained for E. coli in WDC and 2-L PET bottles, respectively, and in the case of E. faecalis LRV = 5.7 and 7.9 were observed. These studies demonstrate that under conditions of strong sunlight and mild temperature, 19 litre water dispenser containers can be used to provide adequate volumes of SODIS treated water for households or larger community applications such as schools or clinics in the developing world.