A new sand filtration water disinfection technology is developed which relies on the antimicrobial properties of hydrophobic polycations (N-hexylated polyethylenimine) covalently attached to the sand's surface. The efficacy of the filter disinfection process was evaluated both with water spiked with E. coli and with real aqueous effluent from a wastewater treatment plant. For the former, over 7...

Passive wastewater treatment systems are commonly applied in northern Canadian communities. Pathogen removal in these systems, which relies on natural purification, can be greatly affected by Arctic environmental conditions. In 2012, new Wastewater Systems Effluent Regulations (WSER) were implemented in Canada, but not in the far North due to the number of northern communities with limited wast...

BACKGROUND Pathogens in healthcare settings can be transmitted via skin contact and environmental media. This study investigates bacterial contamination rate on surfaces of mechanical ventilator systems and bedside equipment. An experimental study evaluates the effectiveness of 75% alcohol in killing bacteria on surfaces. METHODS Surface swab sampling was conducted on ventilator systems and ...

Major waterborne cryptosporidiosis and giardiasis outbreaks associated with contaminated drinking water have been linked to evidence of suboptimal treatment. Cryptosporidium parvum oocysts are particularly more resistant than Giardia lamblia cysts to removal and inactivation by conventional water treatment (coagulation, sedimentation, filtration and chlorine disinfection); therefore, extensive ...

efore the 1970s, research into the nature of natural organic matter (NOM) in drinking water and into methods for its removal was driven primarily by the desire to remove color from public water supplies. Since then, several other problems associated with NOM have been identified, including its demand for coagulants and disinfectants, its potential to transport metals and hydrophobic organic che...

This study evaluated user preferences among three alternative in-home water treatment technologies suitable for households relying on trucked water in El Paso County, Texas, which is on the border with Mexico. The three technologies were: chlorination of household storage tanks, small-scale batch chlorination, and point-of-use ultraviolet disinfection. Fifteen households used each of the three ...

Drinking water biofilm development is affected by the available nutrient levels and the presence of disinfectants. Phosphorus is recognized as another important limiting nutrient besides organic carbon. In this study, drinking water biofilms were developed in annular reactors to examine the effects of phosphorus on the biofilm disinfections with free chlorine and monochloramine. Phosphorus addi...

background: titanium dioxide (tio2)-mediated photocatalysis has been found to be an efficient method of water treatment and is capable of degrading a wide range of organic pollutants and microbial agents with high efficiency. the microorganism pseudomonas aeruginosa is resistant to chemicals and uv irradiation. bacteria which are resistant to uv-induced oxidative damage of the cell membrane are...

Nano-silver is increasingly used in consumer products from washing machines and refrigerators to devices marketed for the disinfection of drinking water or recreational water. The nano-silver in these products may be released, ending up in surface water bodies which may be used as drinking water sources. Little information is available about the stability of the nano-silver in sources of drinki...

Concern about contamination of fibreoptic endoscopes with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) has generated a variety of disruptive and possibly unnecessary infection control practices in endoscopy units. Current recommendations on the cleaning and disinfection of endoscopes have been formulated without applied experimental evidence of the effective removal of HIV from endoscopes. To study the k...