Study on the efficacy of sterilization in tap water by electrocatalytic technique

Abstract

Tap water contains some heavy metals and bio-organic substances with variety of concentration and these cannot be treated using regular physicochemical processes. So the present study, aims at evaluating the effectiveness of the sterilization using electrocatalytic technique with Escherichia coli (E. coli) as the observed index. The operational parameters such as anode material, voltage, inflow method, and electrode number are studied to understand the variation of pH, conductivity, E. coli, and residual chlorine of tap water. The outcome reveals that the maximum sterilization efficiency of E. coli is obtained using the titanium dioxide electrode, followed by ruthenium dioxide and graphite. A disinfection efficiency of 98% can be easily achieved. Also, the appropriate increase in the operating voltage can increase the sterilization efficiency and decrease the treatment time. The sterilization efficiency of the E. coli can reach 100% under the continuous inflow of tap water and the voltage of 60 V for 1 min, which meets the conventional standard of drinking water (6 CFU/100ml). The estimated operating cost of treatment of 1 ton of tap water is NTD 1.7.