Evaluation of A Green and Sustainable MULTI-Barrier WATER Treatment System for Removal of Enteric VIRUS IN Drinking WATER

ABSTRACT

Safe drinking water is essential to protect human health. An approach used by the water industry to provide safe drinking water and prevent outbreaks of waterborne diseases involves the concept of “multiple barrier” treatment system. Disinfection is usually the final barrier before consumption, and chlorine is widely used as disinfectant. The use of sodium hypochlorite as the source of chlorine is economical but results in toxic chlorinated disinfection byproducts and generates a large quantity of sodium ions that affect vegetation. Technologies incorporating alternatives to chlorination represent a green and sustainable approach in the multi-barrier system of drinking water treatment. This paper presents the results of an evaluation on a multi-barrier system that consists of a charged adsorptive filter (CAF) and ultraviolet (UV) light disinfection for removal of enteric virus from drinking water. MS2 bacteriophage was used as a surrogate to represent enteric virus. No chemicals are used in this multi-barrier system. The CAF was evaluated at clean, half life and end of life (EOL) conditions based on differential pressure. The UV system was evaluated in conjunction with the CAF and as a standalone system at 100% and 70% intensity. The performance of the multi-barrier system and the standalone UV unit satisfied the EPA Ground Water Rule (GWR) requirement of 4.0 log removal of enteric virus. The testing was conducted at the U.S. EPA’s Test and Evaluation (T&E) Facility in Cincinnati, Ohio.