SOLAR WATER DISINFECTION IN NORTHEAST BRAZIL: KINETICS OF THE PROCESS AND THE STUDY FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF A PILOT PLANT

An experimental and numerical study of decontamination efficiency was carried through to evaluate the application of solar energy in water treatment in Northeast Brazil. The methodology used was the one proposed by Solar Water Disinfection (SODIS). Contaminated water samples were collected at the community of Robalo, Sergipe State, Brazil, which is characterized by poverty, social exclusion and a high incidence of waterborne diseases. The method used for pre- and post-disinfection microbiological analyses was the Colilert® QuantiTray (IDEXX) one. The results show that the efficiency of the disinfection process reached 80 to 100%, however a post-treatment increase in colony counts was observed in some samples. The experimental results were treated numerically, to give disinfection kinetics, thus allowing theoretical and experimental data to be compared. This study further presents considerations for the development of an experimental pilot plant for water disinfection using SODIS.