Comparative Study of Solar Inactivation of Total Coliforms through Transparent Plastic Bottles and Fabricated Disinfection Setup

Abstract

The water is disinfected through different techniques commonly used at domestic level, including boiling, chlorination, UV (Ultraviolet) disinfection, etc. These methods require extensive amount of chemicals, energy and trained manpower. The solar disinfection of drinking water found as best among all other disinfection techniques as it is easy to apply, economically feasible and environmentally friendly technique. In this study a series of experiments were conducted in order to characterize the bacterial inactivation process contained in FDS (Fabricated Disinfection Setup), consists of a stainless steel tub and glass covering, and TPB (Transparent Plastic Bottles). In this study the role of solar radiation in bacterial inactivation process is compared in transparent plastic bottles and stainless steel tub to determine the performance of both by simulating conditions of turbidity, temperature, and exposure time. The results showed that disinfection of water contained in a stainless steel tub promoted more successful inactivation of total Coliforms reduction about 80% than that of transparent plastic bottles about 70%.