Rodríguez-González, Laura C.

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    Disinfection by-products occurrence and Escherichia Coliform removal in a point-of-entry cistern purification unit
    (2012) Rodríguez-González, Laura C.; Hwang, Sangchul; College of Engineering; Zapata-López, Raúl E.; Segarra-García, Rafael; Department of Civil Engineering; Toledo, Freya M.
    This research aims to develop and test a Point-of-Entry Cistern Purification Unit (POE-CPU) to guarantee water quality for household purposes, with an emphasis on turbidity, E. coli removal and minimal occurrence of disinfection by-products (DBPs). Many countries, especially underdeveloped countries lacking water treatment plants, depend on rainwater collection for their water supply. There is great potential for this supply to be exposed to contamination at the collection point, due to pollution, animal waste and deposition of particulate matter. Other contamination factors, such as aged cistern structures, poor roofing maintenance, pipe corrosion, etc., can result in infectious diseases and other pathogenic illnesses. DBPs have been a rising concern for regulatory agencies, such as United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) and World Health Organization (WHO), because of their toxicity and probable carcinogenic effects. With these factors in mind, a lab-scale POE-CPU, composed of gravel and sand filters and disinfection unit, was developed and tested. Rainfall was collected periodically, pumped through the system and disinfected with controlled amounts of sodium hypochlorite. Analyses were conducted for physiochemical and biological characteristics such as turbidity, pH and E. coli, and the concentration of trihalomethanes as surrogate DBPs in the effluent water. The POE-CPU achieved 44% removal of turbidity and 4-log removal of E. coli in disinfection samples but exceeded (barely) USEPA Drinking Water Standards. DBPs results varied greatly because of organic matter concentration in the water, but for the most part complied with the 80 ppb standard. Additional experimental runs were made either with calcium alginate (AG) bead or activated carbon (AC) as innovative addition for the removal of heavy metals. AG treatment excelled over both original and AC treatment by removing and average of 55% turbidity, producing no detectable DBPs and achieving 4-log removal of E. coli.