DISINFECTION OF MUNICIPAL WATER USING SOLAR RADIATION: AN ECONOMICAL APPROACH FOR RURAL DWELLERS IN THE COASTAL REGION OF KARACHI

Authors

  • M. F. Ahmed Karachi Institute of Power Engineering (KINPOE), KNPC, P.O. Box 3183, Karachi, Pakistan
  • M. Saleem Karachi Institute of Power Engineering (KINPOE), KNPC, P.O. Box 3183, Karachi, Pakistan

Abstract

At present acquiring safe drinking water in rural or remote areas of Pakistan is a challenging task for dwellers. Coast line of Karachi is a sporadic habitat of villages not having access to safe drinking water. Many incidents of waterborne diseases have been reported in that area and attributed to contaminated municipal water supply. Solution of the problem is disinfection however, general methods of water disinfection such as boiling, UV-lamp, ozonation and chemical additive are costly or require skilled manpower. Present study investigates the solar disinfection method to treat municipal water supply at Karachi Institute of Power Engineering (KINPOE) located at the costal belt of Karachi. Effect of exposure time, bottle material and turbidity of water on the process performance was evaluated. Model indicator bacteria total coliform (TC) was used to evaluate the solar disinfection process. Study revealed that in order to disinfect the municipal water, samples should be filled in PET transparent bottles, having turbidity below 23 NTU, and expose to solar radiation in the study area at least for one hour. Study shows that solar disinfection may provide safe drinking water meeting national and international water quality standards at minimum cost and effort in sunshine rich areas and not having access to other water purification systems.

References

WHO, Water for Life: making it happens,

WHO press, World Health Organization,

Switzerland (2005).

UNDP, United Nations Development

Program, Human Development Report,

Oxford Press, New York (2003).

P. R. Hunter, M. Waite and E. Ronchi,

Drinking Water and Infectious Disease,

Establishing the Links, CRC Press, London,

UK (2002).

M.A. Kahlown, M.A. Tahir and A.A. Sheikh,

Water Quality Status in Pakistan: Second

Report 2002 – 2003, Pakistan Council of

Research in Water Resources, Islamabad,

Pakistan (2004).

M.A. Abid and A. Jamil, The Assessment of

Drinking Water Quality and Availability in

NWFP, RWSSP, Peshawar, Pakistan

(2005).

S. Feenstra, R. Hussain and W. Van der

Hoek, Health Risks of Irrigation with

Untreated Urban Wastewater in the

Southern Punjab, Pakistan, IWMI Pakistan

Report 107, Lahore, Pakistan (2000).

P.K. Jensen, J.H.J. Ensink, G. Jayasinhe,

W. Vander Hoek, S. Cairncross and A.

Dalsgaard, J. Health Popul. Nutr. 21 (2003)

V. Meera and M. M. Ahammed, Wat. Sci.

Tech., 8, No. 2(2008) 160.

Y. Jamil, M. R. Ahmad, K. Ali, A. Habeeb,

and M. Hassan, Soil and Environ. 28, No.1

(2009) 16.

M. Saleem, Int. J. of Env. Engg. 1, No. 3

(2009) 320.

M. Younes and J. Bartram, Int. J. Hyg.

Environ. Health 204 (2001) 263.

H. Leclerc, L. Schwartzbrod and E. Dei-Cas,

Crit. Rev. Microbiol. 28 (2002) 409.

A.L.H. Gameson and J.R. Saxon, Wat. Res.

(1967) 295.

J. Calkins, J.D. Buckles, J. R. Moeller,

Photochemistry and Photobiology 24, No. 1

(1976) 57.

A. David and H. Robert, Appl. and Environ.

Microbiol. 47, No. 2 (1984) 228.

F. Razzak, A. Haddaad, N. Ayoob and Y.

Nakeya, Magallat buhut al-taqat alSamaiyyat 3, No. 2 (1985) 39.

T. M. Joyce, K. G. McGuigan, M. ElmoreMeegan and R. M. Conroy, Appl. and

Environ. Microbiol. 62 (1996) 103.

K. G. McGuigan, T. M. Joyce, R. M. Conroy,

J. B. Gillespie and M. Elmore-Meegan, J

Appl. Microbiol. 84, No. 4 (1998) 1138.

N. Safapour and R. H. Metcalf, Appl.

Environ. Microbiol. 65 (1999) 862.

G. K. Rijal and R.S. Fujioka, Wat. Sci. and

Tech. 43, No. 12 (2001) 162.

F.M. Salih, Water Res. 37, No. 16 (2003)

D.C. Walker, S. V. Len and B. Sheehan,

Appl. and Environ. Microbiol. 70 No. 4

(2004) 2550.

W.S. Duff and D.A. Hodgson, Solar Energy

, No. 1 (2005) 32.

R. Khaengraeng and R. H. Reed, J. Appl.

Microbiol. 99 (2005) 50.

M. Berney, H. U. Weilenmann, A. Simonetti,

and T. Egli, Appl. Microbiol. 101, No. 4

(2006) 836.

W. Heaselgrave, N. Patel, S. C. Kehoe, S.

Kilvington and K. G. McGuigan, Let. in Appl.

Microbiol. 43 (2006) 130.

M. Boylc, C. Sichel, P. Fernandez-Ibanez,

G.B. Arias-Quiroz, M. Iriarte-Puna, A.

Mercado, E. Ubomba-Jaswa and K.G.

McGuigan, Appl. Env. Microbiol. 74 (2008)

M. B. Fisher, C. R. Keenan, K. L. Nelson

and B. M. Voelker, J. of Water and Health 6,

No. 1 (2008) 51.

S. Malato, P. Fernandez-Ibanez, M.I.

Maldonado, J. Blanco and W. Gernjak,

Catalysis Today 147, No. 1 (2009) 59.

M. Saleem, A.A. Bukhari and M.H. AlMalack, J. Environ. Engg. and Sci., NRC,

Canada 2, No. 2 (2003) 162.

Standard methods for the examination of

water and wastewater. 21st edition, APHA,

AWWA and WPCF, Washington, D.C

(2000).

AEDB, Alternative Energy Development

Board, Resource Potential of Solar Thermal

Project, Alternative Energy Development

Board, Ministry of Water & Power, Pakistan

(2009).

WHO, World Health Organization,

Guidelines for Drinking-water Quality, Vol. 1,

rd edition, Switzerland (2006).

PEPA, Pakistan Environmental Protection

Agency, National Standards for Drinking

Water Quality, Report published in

collaboration with Ministry of Health, WHO

and UNICEF, (2008) p. 29.

Downloads

Published

23-04-2010

How to Cite

[1]
M. F. Ahmed and M. Saleem, “DISINFECTION OF MUNICIPAL WATER USING SOLAR RADIATION: AN ECONOMICAL APPROACH FOR RURAL DWELLERS IN THE COASTAL REGION OF KARACHI”, The Nucleus, vol. 47, no. 2, pp. 165–171, Apr. 2010.

Issue

Section

Articles

Most read articles by the same author(s)