Design and development of solar still for effectiveness in eliminating microbial contamination and salt in Mubi, Adamawa State, Nigeria

Abstract

Solar still for the production of clean quality water fit for human consumption and other hygienic uses has been designed and developed. The design and operation, which is based on energy and environmental physics concept of rainwater-evaporation and condensation process, is simple, straightforward and has low maintenance cost. Twenty-four water samples were collected from various boreholes in Mubi, Adamawa State, Nigeria, in sterile bottles. Enumerations of aerobic bacteria by aerobic plate count and coli form by multiple-tube fermentation technique have been carried out. Results showed that heavily contaminated samples with an average microbial load of 2.57x10cfu/ml; a positive 100% distribution of coli form bacteria; and an input average of 266.7mg/l of CaCO were completely eliminated producing up to 9 litres of pure water, with an average pH value of 9.13 per day in temperate climate. The water does not acquire the \'flat\' taste of commercially distilled water since it is not boiled. This study is therefore an application of physics for the production of distilled water from contaminated water for both human health protection and environmental sustainability.

Keywords:Solar still, portable water, health protection.

Nigerian Journal of Physics Vol. 18 (2) 2006: pp. 203-210