Solar disinfection: an approach for low-cost household water treatment technology in Southwestern Ethiopia

Disinfection of contaminated water using solar radiation (sodis) is known to inactivate bacteria. its inactivationefficiency depends on local conditions where the disinfection is made. this study was aiming to test the efficiencyof solar disinfection using different water parameters as low-cost household water treatment technology.inactivation of microbes was tested using fecal coliform as test organism. the sodis experiment was carried out atturbidity 2ntu, ph 7, and various water temperature (38.1°c, 41.8°c, 45.6°cand 51.1°c) and solar intensities, usingclear and black plastic bottles filled to different depths. the results show that the rate of microbial inactivation inrelation to depth of water, turbidity, container type, intensity of light and color of container was statisticallysignificant (p < 0.05). however, bottle placement, exposure and water ph were unrelated to microbial inactivation.bacterial re-growth was not observed after solar disinfection. by adjusting the parameters, complete and irreversiblefecal coliform inactivation was achieved within an exposure time of less than four hours in the areas where thesolar irradiance is about 3.99 kw/m2 and above. our results indicate that application of sodis could play asignificant role in the provision of safe water in rural communities of developing countries where there is amplesunshine, specifically in sub-saharan african countries.