Disinfection of water by sunlight

Solar water disinfection (SODIS): A review from bench-top to roof-top

“…Although the bactericidal effect of sunlight was rigorously investigated by Downes and Blunt in 1877 [16], it was not until 1984 that Aftim Acra and co-workers in the University of Beirut [17,18] published their seminal work on using sunlight to disinfect contaminated water for use in oral rehydration solutions. Since then the full potential of SODIS to inactivate a wide range of waterborne pathogens has been investigated by several groups [12,13,[19][20][21][22].…”

Effects of simulated solar disinfection of water on infectivity of Salmonella typhimurium

“…The spread of water-borne disease through consumption of faecally contaminated water is a major concern for many communities in developing countries. Solar irradiation has been proposed as a means of disinfecting contaminated water in areas that experience hot and sunny climates (Acra et al 1980;Ciochetti and Metcalf 1984;Lawland et al 1988;De Lorenzi et al 1989;Acra et al 1990;Joyce et al 1992;Reed 1997). Recent clinical trials reported a reduction in the incidence of diarrhoea among children who drank water exposed to sunlight compared to a control group who kept their drinking water indoors (Conroy et al , 1999.…”

Inactivation of fecal bacteria in drinking water by solar heating

“…The most common water treatment techniques are not always available to the local population since the practice of chopping down trees for firewood to boil water has been discouraged in many countries for environmental health reasons and the cost of chlorination may be considered prohibitive. It has been suggested that solar energy might have a role to play in improving water quality in those regions that enjoy a hot, sunny climate (1,2,4,(9)(10)(11)(14)(15)(16). Our group has been studying the possibility of using solar energy to improve the quality of water samples stored in ordinary 2-liter transparent plastic bottles placed in direct sunlight.…”