Efficacy of a solar still in destroying virus and indicator bacteria in water for human consumption

  • Felipe Tiago do Nascimento Universidade FEEVALE (FEEVALE), Novo Hamburgo, RS, Brasil Instituto de Ciências Exatas e Tecnológicas (ICET).
  • Carlos Augusto do Nascimento Universidade FEEVALE (FEEVALE), Novo Hamburgo, RS, Brasil Instituto de Ciências Exatas e Tecnológicas (ICET).
  • Fernando Rosado Spilki Universidade FEEVALE (FEEVALE), Novo Hamburgo, RS, Brasil Instituto de Ciências da Saúde (ICS).
  • Rodrigo Staggemeier Universidade FEEVALE (FEEVALE), Novo Hamburgo, RS, Brasil Instituto de Ciências da Saúde (ICS).
  • Cláudio Marcos Lauer Júnior Universidade FEEVALE (FEEVALE), Novo Hamburgo, RS, Brasil Instituto de Ciências da Saúde (ICS).
DOI: https://doi.org/10.4136/ambi-agua.2084
Keywords: adenovirus, solar distillation, water disinfection.

Abstract

Natural water distillation can destroy and/or inactivate microorganisms that are sensitive to heat and ultraviolet radiation (UV). This method is currently used to provide fresh water in ships and in the desalination of brackish water. For the development of this research, a pilot-scale solar still was built and installed in the southern region of Brazil, in order to assess its efficiency in water disinfection, which was based on the most probable number (MPN) of total coliforms and  Escherichia coli, in addition to the DNA copy number of human adenovirus type 5 (HAdV-5) in raw, undistilled samples and in treated distilled water. Results showed that the distillation process removed 100% of total coliform and Escherichia coli and 4.5 log (99.997%) of HAdV-5, which meets the microbiological standards for drinking water according to national Brazilian regulations, as well as USEPA and HEALTH CANADA requirements.


Published
30/07/2018
Issue
Vol. 13 No. 4 (2018)
Section
Papers

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