Solar disinfection: an approach for low-cost household water treatment technology in Southwestern Ethiopia

Journal of Environmental Health Science Engineering

Argaw Ambelu¹  Helmut Kloos³  Worku Legesse²  Seblework Mekonen¹  Esayas Alemayehu¹  Awrajaw Dessie⁴ 

[1] Department of Environmental Health Science and Technology, College of Public Health and Medical Sciences, Jimma University, Jimma, Ethiopia;TREE Foundation, Texas, USA;Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California, San Francisco, California, USA;Department of Public Health, College of Health Science, Mekelle University, Mekelle, Ethiopia

关键词: Solar radiation;    Household water treatment;    Water disinfection;    Safe water supply;   

Others  :  810592
DOI  :  10.1186/2052-336X-12-25

 received in 2013-07-05, accepted in 2013-12-22,  发布年份 2014

【 摘 要 】

Disinfection of contaminated water using solar radiation (SODIS) is known to inactivate bacteria. Its inactivation efficiency depends on local conditions where the disinfection is made. This study was aiming to test the efficiency of solar disinfection using different water parameters as low-cost household water treatment technology. Inactivation of microbes was tested using fecal coliform as test organism. The SODIS experiment was carried out at turbidity 2NTU, pH 7, and various water temperature (38.1°C, 41.8°C, 45.6°Cand 51.1°C) and solar intensities, using clear and black plastic bottles filled to different depths. The results show that the rate of microbial inactivation in relation to depth of water, turbidity, container type, intensity of light and color of container was statistically significant (p < 0.05). However, bottle placement, exposure and water pH were unrelated to microbial inactivation. Bacterial re-growth was not observed after solar disinfection. By adjusting the parameters, complete and irreversible fecal coliform inactivation was achieved within an exposure time of less than four hours in the areas where the solar irradiance is about 3.99 kW/m² and above. Our results indicate that application of SODIS could play a significant role in the provision of safe water in rural communities of developing countries where there is ample sunshine, specifically in sub-Saharan African countries.

【 授权许可】

   
2014 Dessie et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

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