Effect of Solar Water Disinfection on Microbial Load and Concentration of Bisphenol-A in Rivers State, Nigeria

Abstract

This research was aimed at determining the efficacy of solar radiation as a good source of reducing microbial load in water and the determination of Bisphenol- A concentration in bottled water and sachet water. The parameters evaluated are: Total bacterial count, Total fungi count, Salmonella Shigella, Coliform, Bisphenol A, pH, Dissolve oxygen, Total dissolve solid, Turbidity, total hardness. The bacteria genera isolated are; Staphylococcus, Pseudomonas sp, Echerichia coli, Klebsiella sp, Salmonella sp, Bacillus sp. Micrococcus sp. Proteus sp. Corynebacterium sp.  The fungi genera isolated are Penicillium sp, Aspergillus niger, Mucor sp. Cadida sp. Fusarium sp. These organisms reduce as the number of hours of exposure increases. The Bisphenol A concentration increases as the exposure time increases. The study revealed that solar radiation (sunlight) is a good source of water disinfection.  The study however recommends the use of PET Polyethylene Terephthalate bottle in water purification using sunlight since PET bottles contains much less additives than bottles made from Poly Vinyl Chloride (PVC)