Effectiveness of solar water disinfection in the era of COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic for contaminated water/wastewater treatment considering UV effect and temperature

Abstract

\n The COVID-19 pandemic disturbed the world from the beginning of 2020. The virus is highly contagious and spread rapidly and the number of infections increases exponentially. The high excessive number of patients and presence of the SARS-CoV-2 in human excreta and urine even after the infected person’s respiratory tests were negative, results in heavy load of viral in various water bodies. Numerous studies reported the presence of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater samples. The risk of contaminating water bodies in the regions which suffer from the lack of proper sanitation system and wastewater treatment plants (mostly in developing countries) is higher. Since solar water disinfection (SODIS) is usually used by people in developing countries, there is a concern about using this method during the pandemic. Because the SARS-CoV-2 can be eliminated by high temperature (>56°C) and UVC wavelength (100-280 nm) while SODIS systems mainly work at lower temperature (<45°C) and use the available UVA (315-400 nm). Thus, during a situation like the ongoing pandemic using SODIS method for wastewater treatment (or providing drinking water) is not a reliable method. It should be reminded that the main aim of the present study is not just to give insights about the possibilities and risks of using SODIS during the ongoing pandemic but it has broader prospect for any future outbreak/pandemic that results in biological contamination of water bodies. Nevertheless, some experimental studies seem to be necessary by all researchers under conditions similar to developing countries.\n