Field testing of low-cost titania-based photocatalysts for enhanced solar disinfection (SODIS) in rural India

To widen access to safe potable water in rural areas, many novel photocatalysts have been developed and presented in the literature, with the potential to be used in conjunction with simple solar disinfection (SODIS) techniques, showing successful removal of a range of contaminants. However, it is o...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inEnvironmental science water research & technology Vol. 6; no. 3; pp. 89 - 816
Main Authors Porley, Victoria, Chatzisymeon, Efthalia, Meikap, Bhim Charan, Ghosal, Somnath, Robertson, Neil
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Cambridge Royal Society of Chemistry 05.03.2020
Subjects
Contaminants
Disinfection
Drinking water
Irradiation
Laboratories
Laboratory tests
Optimization
Photocatalysis
Photocatalysts
Pollutant removal
Radiation
Rural areas
Tests
Titanium dioxide
India
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:To widen access to safe potable water in rural areas, many novel photocatalysts have been developed and presented in the literature, with the potential to be used in conjunction with simple solar disinfection (SODIS) techniques, showing successful removal of a range of contaminants. However, it is often the case that investigations into new photocatalytic systems are limited to laboratory tests, which are generally conducted under idealised conditions that do not take into account many practical limitations of real-world conditions. To address this need, we have conducted tests under sunlight using real water sources from rural villages in India to verify the results of previous successful laboratory tests on a novel photocatalyst. It was found that SODIS can be significantly enhanced with the addition of photocatalyst, with an enhanced titania-based material showing better performance under solar irradiation relative to titania alone, consistent with our lab studies. The study also highlights areas for further optimisation, desirable to achieve before the technology can be most-effectively implemented. We report the efficacy of titania-based photocatalysts for use as a simple and effective method of disinfecting drinking water in villages in West Bengal, demonstrating the viability of this technique to enhance solar disinfection in rural areas.
Bibliography:10.1039/c9ew01023h
Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available. See DOI
ISSN:2053-1400
2053-1419
DOI:10.1039/c9ew01023h