SOLAR RADIATION AND PHOTO-FENTON SYSTEMS: NOVEL APPLICATIONS FOR NOROVIRUS DISINFECTION IN WATER

Ensuring the safety and quality of drinking water is essential in the prevention of waterborne diseases, especially in developing countries where water scarcity and lack of access to sanitation is common. Noroviruses (NoV) are the leading cause of non-bacterial acute gastroenteritis worldwide, being the second most common cause of diarrheal death in children under 5 years of age. Through the review of previous published works together with original research, this chapter focus on the feasibility of alternative water treatment processes, such as solar disinfection (SODIS), Fenton and photo-Fenton systems, for the virus inactivation. Negligible viral reduction was achieved in Fenton systems, and only partial disinfection was achieved under SODIS conditions. On the other hand, photo-Fenton process significantly increased the disinfection power. A synergistic effect between Fe2+/H2O2 and sunlight leads to significant disinfection rates of murine norovirus (employed as surrogate of human norovirus) at middle environmental temperatures and without an intensive energy-light source requirement. Nevertheless, results presented here suggest solar photo-Fenton technology as a feasible alternative treatment for viral disinfection, in both high and low -income settings, to reach acceptable water quality for human consumption or wastewater reuse.