1 Institute for Energy, Environment and Sustainability Research, UR-NCEPU, North China Electric Power University, Beijing, 102206, China; Institute for Energy, Environment and Sustainable Communities, University of Regina, Regina, S4S 0A2, Canada.
2 Institute for Energy, Environment and Sustainability Research, UR-NCEPU, North China Electric Power University, Beijing, 102206, China; Institute for Energy, Environment and Sustainable Communities, University of Regina, Regina, S4S 0A2, Canada. Electronic address: huang@iseis.org.
3 Department of Building, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Concordia University, Montreal, H3G 1M8, Canada.
4 Institute for Energy, Environment and Sustainability Research, UR-NCEPU, North China Electric Power University, Beijing, 102206, China.
5 Institute for Energy, Environment and Sustainable Communities, University of Regina, Regina, S4S 0A2, Canada.

Performance of ceramic disk filter coated with nano ZnO for removing Escherichia coli from water in small rural and remote communities of developing regions.

Environ Pollut. 2018 Jul;238:52-62

Authors: Huang J, Huang G, An C, He Y, Yao Y, Zhang P, Shen J

Abstract

Global water safety is facing great challenges due to increased population and demand. There is an urgent need to develop suitable water treatment strategy for small rural and remote communities in low-income developing countries. In order to find a low-cost solution, the reduction of E. coli using ceramic water disk coated with nano ZnO was investigated in this study. The performance of modified ceramic disk filters was influenced by several factors in the filter production process. Based on the factorial analysis, the pore size of the disk filters was the most significant factor for influencing E. coli removal efficiency and the clay content was the most significant one for influencing flow rate of modified disk filters. The coating of nano ZnO led to the change of disk filter surface and porosity. The reduction of E. coli could be attributed to both filter retention and photocatalytic antibacterial activity of nano ZnO. The effects of filter operation factors including initial E. coli concentration, illumination time and lamp power on E. coli removal effectiveness were also revealed. The results can help find a safe and cost-effective approach to solve drinking water problems in small rural and remote communities of developing regions.

PMID: 29544196 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]