Implementing a UV disinfection system in a low-income area of Bolivia, South America

• Author / Creator

  Zapata Peláez, Mario Alberto

• Microbial pollution of water is one of the principal causes of life-threatening diarrheal diseases in the developing world. Ultraviolet (UV) light is increasingly recognized as a viable alternative for the disinfection of drinking water and wastewater in developed countries, but its feasibility in low-income areas has to be assessed further. The rural community of Cerro Grande, in Bolivia, has been hit by outbreaks of gastrointestinal diseases, so two UV-based disinfection systems were implemented there. One of them was a fabricated unit, with materials available locally, whereas the other was a commercially-available unit. The fabricated unit was validated following USEPA procedures and was modeled using computational fluid dynamics. It was observed that a UV-based disinfection system can be sustainable for as few as 20 users, and even for 48 users in areas with poor feed water quality and lacking an electrical grid and distribution network, with a monthly cost of US$2

• Subjects / Keywords

  • Low-income
  • Operation
  • Maintenance
  • Ultraviolet
  • Water
  • Treatment

• Graduation date

  Spring 2011

• Type of Item

  Thesis

• Degree

  Master of Science

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/R3VM7G

• License

  This thesis is made available by the University of Alberta Libraries with permission of the copyright owner solely for non-commercial purposes. This thesis, or any portion thereof, may not otherwise be copied or reproduced without the written consent of the copyright owner, except to the extent permitted by Canadian copyright law.