Effective removal of fecal coliforms from river water in a rural community using low-cost CPC

ABSTRACT

This paper presents the design, manufacture, characterization, and evaluation of a solar disinfection (SODIS) reactor based on compound parabolic concentrators (CPCs). Two materials were used to manufacture the reflective surface of the CPCs, high reflectivity aluminum sheet (CPC_HRS) and commercial aluminum foil (CPC_AF). In both configurations, the solar energy collection area, the concentration ratio, and the volume capacity were the same, 1 m², 1-Sun and 100 L per day, respectively. CPC-type reactor was manufactured with low-cost materials affordable for the end user in rural communities. The experimental evaluation was carried out under real-life conditions using water from a river consumed by the inhabitants of a rural community in Mexico. The effectiveness of CPCs for disinfection using the SODIS process was demonstrated using a flow rate of 10 L/h. CPC_HRS achieved 100% bacterial removal of fecal coliforms in 2 h of solar exposition, while CPC_AF reached the same results in 4 h under similar conditions. Solar disinfection of natural freshwater sources using a CPC type reactor shows the feasibility of eliminating the main microorganisms that cause gastrointestinal diseases, thus improving the quality of life of the rural community.

KEYWORDS:

• CPC-type reactor
• SODIS process
• fecal coliforms
• river water
• rural community

Nomenclature

Table

Acknowledgement

The authors thank Engineer J. Alejandro Muñoz Hernández and your company hydraulics and environmental technology (Hitecma, for its acronym in Spanish), for the technical support provided in the manufacture of the CPC.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Teresa Hernández-Ortíz

Teresa Hernández-Ortíz is graduated in Chemical Engineering and obtained a master’s degree in engineering and applied sciences, both at the Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Morelos. Since 2018 she has been pursuing a PhD in Environmental Engineering and Sustainable Technologies at the Faculty of Chemical Sciences and Engineering of the Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Morelos.

Iván Salgado-Tránsito

Iván Salgado-Tránsito is a Research Scientist at CONACYT – Centro de Investigaciones en Óptica AC. His education is a B.S. in Agricultural Mechanical Engineering, M.S. in Renewable Energy, and his Ph.D. in Energy Engineering with an emphasis on solar photo-thermal energy, graduating in 2011 from the National University of Mexico. His work experience has been as a Postdoctoral Associate at the University of Minnesota and Assistant Professor at the University of Sonora. Since 2014, he has been a Research Scientist at the Solar Thermal Energy Laboratory of the Optics Research Center in Mexico. His research interests are in the field of solar thermal energy, mainly in concentrating solar power, solar heat for industrial processes, solar for wastewater treatment, and solar-assisted pyrolysis.

Carlos A. Pineda-Arellano

Carlos A. Pineda-Arellano is a Chemical Engineer and Dr in Engineering from the Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Morelos. He is currently working as a CONACYT researcher at Centro de Investigaciones en Óptica A.C. He is responsible for the Solar Chemistry Laboratory, attending to projects related to the design of solar collectors and the synthesis and characterization of photocatalytic materials for the use of the solar resource to generate solar fuels, treatment of contaminants in aqueous systems, DSSC solar cells, and solar chemistry systems.

Josefina Vergara-Sánchez

Josefina Vergara Sánchez is a Research Professor, in the Industrial Engineering area of the Escuela de Estudios Superiores de Xalostoc of the Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Morelos and was also the founder of the Environmental Analysis and Sustainability Laboratory (water analysis) of this academic unit. This laboratory has favored the formation of Institutional Networks and has served as a link with research groups of high national prestige. Active member of the Academy of Sciences of Morelos. Dr Vergara actively participates in investigations of environmental engineering, wastewater treatment, and applying Advanced Oxidation Processes.

Moisés Montiel-González

Moisés Montiel-González is a full-time Research Professor at the Faculty of Chemical Sciences and Engineering of the Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Morelos, member of the Basic Academy in the master’s and PhD program in Environmental Engineering and Sustainable Technologies. His research lines are focused on the design, construction, and theoretical-experimental evaluation of solar systems: thermal and photovoltaic, besides, the design, development, and evaluation of sustainable energy systems.