Water Resources Research Act Program

Details for Project ID 2014PR163B

Inactivation of Bacillus subtilis with a Modified Solar-Powered Engineered Experimental Drum Filtration and Disinfection (SEED) Unit

Institute: Puerto Rico
Year Established: 2014 Start Date: 2014-03-01 End Date: 2015-02-28
Total Federal Funds: $16,603 Total Non-Federal Funds: $4,167

Principal Investigators: Sangchul Hwang

Project Summary: The proposed solar-powered engineered experimental drum filtration and disinfection (SEED) unit will be tested at field for inactivation of Bacillus subtilis as a surrogate for Giardia Lamblia. This will be done in conjunction to a scaled-down lab-scale experiment from which more scientific information on mechanisms of inactivation and removal of target microorganisms will be understood. The SEED unit was novel and was the first of its kind in that it was fully solar-powered, engineered for production of safe drinking water. However, it needs to be modified with more robust structure and for simpler operation for use in rural communities. The PI (S. Hwang) has worked on several water quality projects for more than nine years and is very competent in development of small systems and monitoring of indicator/surrogate microorganisms. The proposed work will be driven by a graduate student who will be teamed up with several undergraduate students from interdisciplinary departments. This is a renewal proposal for the third-year project.