Development of a low-cost copper device for the inactivation of microorganisms in drinking water for human consumption

Abstract

Drinking water is a basic necessity for mankind in day-to-day life. Due to several environmental changes in the climate, the problem of water pollution and scarcity has increased all over the world, especially in rural and urban areas. To overcome such problems, people are using several alternative techniques for storing drinking water in regular household containers, especially in plastic tubs and plastic buckets, etc. Storing of drinking water in plastic containers increases microbial load with time which leads to various waterborne diseases such as vomiting, nausea diarrhea, dysentery, etc. To address such problems, the present study develops and designs a potable water storage device using copper which will able to reduce water-borne pathogens and can easily fit in any storage container. Experimentation of the developed device was done in both spiked deionized water (DI) (Enterobacteriaceae such as Escherichia coli, Salmonella enterica serovar. typhi, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa) and groundwater samples for analyzing its microbial, and physicochemical (pH, Total Dissolved Solids (TDS), Electrical Conductivity (EC), and copper content) parameters. The results demonstrated that copper devices of 24 and 165 cm2 area can reduce the bacterial population efficiently by 99.99 % in 4 and 8 h in spiked DI and groundwater samples. Copper content was found to be in the range of 0.050-0.095 mg/L (24 cm2) and 0.056-1.75 mg/L (165 cm2) respectively over a period of 0 to 24 h which were characterized using inductively coupled plasma mass spectroscopy. Further, the structural properties of the device were characterized using X-ray Diffraction spectroscopy (XRD). Parameters for the Chick model of inactivation were calculated and evaluated, all of which show the goodness of fit and predictability at various contact times. The developed device finds applications for travelers, households, school children, office goers, etc.