Solar Energy Utilization in Water Treatment

Abstract

The purpose of this thesis was to determine whether solar water disinfection can be applied in Finland and what would be the efficiency of this process. World population grows steadily and combined with increasing urbanization it causes a major stress to the natural environment. Demand for good quality drinking water increases each year, but resources of fresh water are diminishing. Nowadays most of the water purification stations are designed to use conventional, nonrenewable resources as source of energy. In order to become more sustainable, water treatment plants need to switch on more renewable energy sources. Using solar radiation as part of water disinfection process can minimize environmental effect of water treatment plants, as well as reduce operation costs. According to the results it is possible to use solar dis-infection for water treatment in Finland, but desired efficiency is not met. The best results are achieved with long exposure times and increased water temperature. The highest bacteria reduction rate was 79% at the best conditions.