Solar-driven photoreactivation of microorganisms: Impacts of light source and water matrix

• Author / Creator

  Shafaei, Shirin

• The inactivation fluence of a target wastewater plant in Alberta, Canada was determined in the laboratory and was found to be close to that reported by the target wastewater plant. The effect of inactivation fluence, effective reactivation fluence, temperature, and river water on the percent photoreactivation of total coliforms was investigated under both indoor and outdoor conditions. A concept, namely the ‘effective reactivation fluence’, based on weighting the spectral fluence rate by the action spectrum for photoreactivation, is introduced. Higher inactivation fluence and effective reactivation fluence decreased the percent photoreactivation of total coliforms, while higher temperature increased it. Also, the percent photoreactivation of total coliforms decreased on increasing the percent river water. In addition, the effect of various covers on the percent photoreactivation of total coliforms was studied representing higher percent photoreactivation of total coliforms by cutting off the UV-B portion of sunlight.

• Subjects / Keywords

  • Photoreactivation
  • Fluence
  • River water
  • Bacteria
  • Ultraviolet disinfection

• Graduation date

  Fall 2013

• Type of Item

  Thesis

• Degree

  Master of Science

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/R37H7V

• 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.