Open AccessEfficacy of copper-silver ionization for the disinfection of drinking water in Tumbes, Peru
Author(s) -
Rosa Liliana Solis-Castro,
Lucas dos Santos Da Silva,
Ângela Cristina Andrade Costa,
K. Gebhardt,
Gerardo J. F. Cruz
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
journal of physics. conference series
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.21
H-Index - 85
eISSN - 1742-6596
pISSN - 1742-6588
DOI - 10.1088/1742-6596/1433/1/012011
Subject(s) - copper , water quality , environmental science , environmental chemistry , water source , ionization , clean water , chemistry , environmental engineering , waste management , biology , ecology , water resource management , engineering , ion , organic chemistry
High quality is recommended for drinking water to prevent the transportation of pathogenic bacteria. To ensure its quality, different technologies are applied, and copper-silver ionization is used to maintain the microbiological quality. However, considering that the characteristics of this source vary in different scenarios, it was proposed to evaluate the efficacy of copper-silver ionization for the disinfection of drinking water in Tumbes, Peru. For this evaluation, the physicochemical and microbiological parameters of drinking water were tested at different lengths of copper-silver ionization treatment (10, 20 and 30 minutes). Water samples were collected from 20 houses located in urban areas of Tumbes city where Cu-Ag ionizers (Necon GmbH) were installed. The application of Cu-Ag ionization reduced the microbiological load in the water samples, keeping them below the Peruvian permissible limits (mesophilic bacteria < 500 CFU/100 mL and coliforms < 0 CFU/100 mL). However, in samples with a high microbial load and high electrical conductivity, the microbial load was not completely diminished. Cu-Ag ionization considerably improved the microbiological quality of the water, but some physical parameters, such as pH and electrical conductivity, must be taken into account to further improve the results.