Abstract
Solar water disinfection (SODIS) harnesses energy from the sun to kill pathogenic microorganism in drinking water, thus making it safe for consumption. The effects of local conditions and materials on the efficiency of SODIS were investigated in this study for a period of five months. Waste polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles with varying optical properties were used as SODIS reactors. Water samples from deep well, shallow well, rainfall and spring were used for the study. SODIS reactors were exposed to sunlight for a period of 8 h under varying conditions of temperature and solar radiation. The study revealed that solar radiation intensity of 500–650 W/m2 and water temperature of 45–55 °C, were effective in destroying pathogens. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) confirmed statistically significant difference (p < 0.000) in water temperature of the reactors and support base materials used. However, this did not translate to significant difference in microbial population after 8 h of exposure to sunlight. Over 3 Log reduction in faecal coliform was recorded at a temperature of 55.5 °C within 3 h of exposure. At temperatures below 45 °C, 3 log inactivation of bacteria was not attained even after 8 h of exposure to sunlight. Hence, SODIS can be employed to address the immediate water quality needs of the most disadvantaged communities of Nigeria.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
APHA (1998) Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater, 20th edn. American Public Health Association, Washington
Davies-Colley RJ, Craggs RJ, Park J, Sukias JPS, Nagels JW, Stott R (2005) Virus Removal in a Pilot-Scale ‘Advanced’pond System as Indicated by Somatic and F-RNA Bacteriophages. Water Sci Technol 51:107–110
Dessie A, Alemayehu E, Mekonen S, Legesse W, Kloos H, Ambelu A (2014) Solar Disinfection: an Approach for Low-Cost Household Water Treatment Technology in Southwestern Ethiopia. J Environ Heal Sci Eng 12:25. https://doi.org/10.1186/2052-336X-12-25
Du Preez M, McGuigan KG, Conroy RM (2010) Solar Disinfection of Drinking Water in the Prevention of Dysentery in South African Children aged under 5 years: The role of participant motivation. Environ Sci Technol 44:8744–8749. https://doi.org/10.1021/es103328j
Feachem R, Mara DD, Bradley DJ (1983) Sanitation and Disease. John Wiley & Sons Washington DC, USA
Gómez-Couso H, Fontán-Saínz M, Sichel C, Fernández-Ibáñez P, Ares-Mazás E (2009) Efficacy of the Solar Water Disinfection Method in Turbid Waters Experimentally Contaminated with Cryptosporidium Parvum Oocysts Under Real Field Conditions. Trop Med Int Heal 14:620–627
IFRC, 2008. Household Water Treatment and Safe Storage in Emergencies, Household Water Treatment and Safe Storage
Kehoe SC, Joyce TM, Ibrahim P, Gillespie JB, Shahar RA, McGuigan KG (2001) Effect of Agitation, Turbidity, Aluminium Foil Reflectors and Container Volume on the Inactivation Efficiency of Batch-Process Solar Disinfectors. Water Res 35:1061–1065. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0043-1354(00)00353-5
Lamore Y, Beyene A, Fekadu S, Megersa M (2018) Solar Disinfection Potentials of Aqua Lens, Photovoltaic and Glass Bottle Subsequent to Plant-Based Coagulant: For Low-Cost Household Water Treatment Systems. Appl Water Sci 8:100
Leuenberger P, Ganscha S, Kahraman A, Cappelletti V, Boersema PJ, von Mering C, Claassen M, Picotti P (2017) Cell-Wide Analysis of Protein Thermal Unfolding Reveals Determinants of Thermostability. Science (80-. ) 355:eaai7825. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aai7825
Luzi, S., Tobler, M., Suter, F., Meierhofer, R., 2016. SODIS Manual: Guidance on Solar Water Disinfection
Mani, S.K., 2006. Development and Evaluation of Small-Scale Systems For Solar Disinfection of Contaminated Drinking Water in India
Mani SK, Kanjur R, Bright Singh IS, Reed RH (2006) Comparative Effectiveness of Solar Disinfection Using Small-Scale Batch Reactors with Reflective, Absorptive and Transmissive Rear Surfaces. Water Res 40:721–727. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2005.11.039
McGuigan KG, Joyce TM, Conroy RM, Gillespie JB, Elmore-Meegan M (1998) Solar Disinfection of Drinking Water Contained in Transparent Plastic Bottles: Characterizing the Bacterial Inactivation Process. J Appl Microbiol 84:1138–1148. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2672.1998.00455.x
McGuigan KG, Samaiyar P, Du Preez M, Conroy RM (2011) High Compliance Randomized Controlled Field Trial of Solar Disinfection of Drinking Water and its Impact on Childhood Diarrhea in Rural Cambodia. Environ Sci Technol 45:7862–7867. https://doi.org/10.1021/es201313x
Meierhofer R, Landolt G (2009) Factors Supporting the Sustained use of Solar Water Disinfection—Experiences from a Global Promotion and Dissemination Programme. Desalination 248:144–151
Meierhofer, R., Wegelin, M., 2002. Solar Water Disinfection: A Guide For Applications of SODIS, Sandec
Mustafa A, Scholz M, Khan S, Ghaffar A (2013) Application of Solar Disinfection for Treatment of Contaminated Public Water Supply in a Developing Country: Field Observations. J Water Health 11:135–145. https://doi.org/10.2166/wh.2012.119
Reed RH (1997) Solar Inactivation of Faecal Bacteria in Water: The Critical Role of Oxygen. Lett Appl Microbiol 24:276–280. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1472-765X.1997.00130.x
Reed RH, Mani SK, Meyer V (2000) Solar Photo-Oxidative Disinfection of Drinking Water: Preliminary Field Observations. Lett Appl Microbiol 30:432–436. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1472-765x.2000.00741.x
Russell AD (2003) Lethal Effects of Heat on Bacterial Physiology and Structure. Sci Prog 86:115–137
Sinha RP, Häder DP (2002) UV-Induced DNA Damage and Repair: A Review. Photochem Photobiol Sci 1:225–236. https://doi.org/10.1039/b201230h
Sommer B, Mariño A, Solarte Y, Salas ML, Dierolf C, Valiente C, Mora D, Rechsteiner R, Setter P, Wirojanagud W, Ajarmeh H, Al-Hassan A, Wegelin M (1997) SODIS - An Emerging Water Treatment Process. J Water Supply Res Technol - AQUA 46:127–137
Teksoy A, Eleren SÇ (2017) Drinking Water Disinfection by Solar Radiation. Environ Ecol Res 5(5):400–408. https://doi.org/10.13189/eer.2017.050510
Ugwuoke P, Okeke C (2012) Statistical Assessment of Average Global and Diffuse Solar Radiation on Horizontal Surfaces in Tropical Climate. Int J Renew Energy 2:269–273
UNICEF, 2017. BRIEFING NOTE UNICEF support to water sanitation and hygiene (WASH) sector in Nigeria (since 2014)
Vivar M, Fuentes M, Castro J, García-Pacheco R (2015) Effect of Common Rooftop Materials as Support Base for Solar Disinfection (SODIS) in Rural Areas Under Temperate Climates. Sol Energy 115:204–216
Wegelin M, Canonica S, Mechsner K, Fleischmann T, Pesaro F, Metzler A (1994) Solar Water Disinfection: Scope of the Process and Analysis of Radiation Experiments. Aqua J Water Supply Res Technol 43:154–169
WHO (2007) Combating Waterborne Disease at the Household Level, International Network to Promote Household Water Treatment and Safe Storage. Switzerland, Geneva
WHO (2017) Safely Managed Drinking Water - Thematic Report on Drinking Water 2017, World Health Organization. Switzerland, Geneva
WHO; UN-Water (2014) UN-Water Global Analysis and Assessment of Sanitation and Drinking-Water GLAAS 2014 Report. Organization, World Health
Acknowledgements
The authors are grateful to the sanitary laboratory technologists at the National Centre for Energy Research and Development (NCERD), Nsukka for their technical assistance and advice. Special thanks go to Dr. A. C. Ofomatah for his guidance during the preparation and progress of the experiments.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of Interest
None.
Additional information
Publisher’s Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Nwankwo, E.J., Agunwamba, J.C. & Nnaji, C.C. Effect of Radiation Intensity, Water Temperature and Support-Base Materials on the Inactivation Efficiency of Solar Water Disinfection (SODIS). Water Resour Manage 33, 4539–4551 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11269-019-02407-4
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11269-019-02407-4