TY - JOUR
T1 - UVC inactivation of MS2-phage in drinking water – Modelling and field testing
AU - Baldasso, Veronica
AU - Lubarsky, Helen
AU - Pichel, Natalia
AU - Turolla, Andrea
AU - Antonelli, Manuela
AU - Hincapie, Margarita
AU - Botero, Liliana
AU - Reygadas, Fermin
AU - Galdos-Balzategui, Ane
AU - Byrne, J. A.
AU - Fernandez-Ibañez, Pilar
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by the Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) UK Research and Innovation (SAFEWATER; EPSRC Grant Reference EP/P032427/1 ) and the Royal Society – International Collaboration Awards 2020 (ICA/R1/201373). The authors acknowledge the Agricultural Microbiology Laboratory of ECOSUR (San Cristobal, Chiapas) for allowing the microbiological analysis performance in their facilities.
Funding Information:
This work was supported by the Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) UK Research and Innovation (SAFEWATER; EPSRC Grant Reference EP/P032427/1) and the Royal Society ? International Collaboration Awards 2020 (ICA/R1/201373). The authors acknowledge the Agricultural Microbiology Laboratory of ECOSUR (San Cristobal, Chiapas) for allowing the microbiological analysis performance in their facilities.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021
PY - 2021/9/15
Y1 - 2021/9/15
N2 - UVC disinfection has been recognised by the WHO as an effective disinfection treatment to provide decentralized potable water. Under real conditions there are still unknowns that limit this application including the influence of suspended solids and natural organic matter. This work aims to investigate the influence of two key parameters, suspended solids and natural organic matter, on the efficiency of UVC disinfection of surface water to achieve the drinking water quality requirements established by the WHO for point of use (POU) technologies. Kaolinite (turbidity agent) and humic acids (HA, model of organic matter) were used in a factorial design of experiments (Turbidity from 0 to 5 NTU, and HA from 0 to 3.5 mg/L) to investigate their effect on UVC inactivation of MS2 phage in surface water. A collimated beam (12 W) and a commercial UVC disinfection flow system (16 W) designed to provide drinking water at households were used. The UVC flow system both in the laboratory and in the field was able to achieve the reduction requirements established by WHO (LRV >3.5 for all tested conditions), confirming the good performance of the studied UVC disinfection system. The results found in the lab were used to establish a numerical model that predicts the disinfection rate constant as a function of water turbidity and transmittance at 254 nm (confidence level>95%). The model permitted to elucidate the critical effect of low concentrations of HA in reducing the inactivation rate by 40% for 3.5 mg/L-HA compared with 0, the non-significant detrimental effect of turbidity lower than 5 NTU, and the lack of synergistic effects between both parameters at these levels. The UVC flow system was also tested in the field, in Tzabalho, Chiapas (Mexico), and Antioquia (Colombia), with spiked MS2 into natural surface water. This investigation opens a potential application to monitor the performance of UVC systems with surface water by monitoring transmittance at 254 nm as a tool to control UVC domestic systems to deliver safe drinking water in a household without the need of expensive and laborious biological monitoring tools.
AB - UVC disinfection has been recognised by the WHO as an effective disinfection treatment to provide decentralized potable water. Under real conditions there are still unknowns that limit this application including the influence of suspended solids and natural organic matter. This work aims to investigate the influence of two key parameters, suspended solids and natural organic matter, on the efficiency of UVC disinfection of surface water to achieve the drinking water quality requirements established by the WHO for point of use (POU) technologies. Kaolinite (turbidity agent) and humic acids (HA, model of organic matter) were used in a factorial design of experiments (Turbidity from 0 to 5 NTU, and HA from 0 to 3.5 mg/L) to investigate their effect on UVC inactivation of MS2 phage in surface water. A collimated beam (12 W) and a commercial UVC disinfection flow system (16 W) designed to provide drinking water at households were used. The UVC flow system both in the laboratory and in the field was able to achieve the reduction requirements established by WHO (LRV >3.5 for all tested conditions), confirming the good performance of the studied UVC disinfection system. The results found in the lab were used to establish a numerical model that predicts the disinfection rate constant as a function of water turbidity and transmittance at 254 nm (confidence level>95%). The model permitted to elucidate the critical effect of low concentrations of HA in reducing the inactivation rate by 40% for 3.5 mg/L-HA compared with 0, the non-significant detrimental effect of turbidity lower than 5 NTU, and the lack of synergistic effects between both parameters at these levels. The UVC flow system was also tested in the field, in Tzabalho, Chiapas (Mexico), and Antioquia (Colombia), with spiked MS2 into natural surface water. This investigation opens a potential application to monitor the performance of UVC systems with surface water by monitoring transmittance at 254 nm as a tool to control UVC domestic systems to deliver safe drinking water in a household without the need of expensive and laborious biological monitoring tools.
KW - Disinfection
KW - Experimental factorial design
KW - Humic acids
KW - Kaolinite
KW - MS2-bacteriophage
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85112696534&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.watres.2021.117496
DO - 10.1016/j.watres.2021.117496
M3 - Artículo
AN - SCOPUS:85112696534
SN - 0043-1354
VL - 203
JO - Water Research
JF - Water Research
M1 - 117496
ER -
