Design and Evaluation of a Household Chlorination System for Treating Cistern Water in the US Virgin Islands
Publication: Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 148, Issue 11
Abstract
In the US Virgin Islands, of households have rain catchment systems that utilize large cisterns; however, these systems are at high risk of microbial contamination. Available water treatment technologies provide varying levels of protection from microbial contamination and can be expensive. Therefore, we evaluated a low-cost water treatment train that included a passive chlorinator, carbon filter, and membrane filter to provide whole-house treatment for microbial contamination in a mock, pressurized, intermittent-use water system. Two types of locally available passive pool chlorinators were modified and tested for free chlorine residual (FCR) levels across a set of different water use scenarios. Additionally, tracer dye tests were conducted to evaluate chlorine contact time in the system, a carbon filter was evaluated for chlorine removal efficiencies, and a 1-micron nominal filter was evaluated for its effect on system pressure and microbial removal efficiencies. Results suggested the modified passive chlorinators provided relatively consistent chlorine dosing (offline: standard deviation range 0.54 to 0.79 ppm FCR, 3 trials, ; inline: standard deviation 0.53 ppm FCR, 1 trial, ) and tracer dye tests identified a minimum contact time for high flow rates (18.9 LPM, 5 GPM) of . The carbon filter reduced FCR levels from as high as 18.5 ppm to (), while the 1-micron nominal filter had negligible effects on system pressure and provided removal of total coliforms (). The data suggest that passive chlorination can potentially be a low-cost option for whole-house water treatment for microbial contamination, but further research is needed to demonstrate system stability in a wider range of use cases over a longer period of time along with simplified practitioner protocols for field use.
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Data Availability Statement
All data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank Mr. Brian Nebel and Mr. Jason Cawthorn for their contributions to the engineering and plumbing design.
References
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 148 • Issue 11 • November 2022
Copyright
© 2022 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Mar 1, 2022
Accepted: Jun 13, 2022
Published online: Aug 25, 2022
Published in print: Nov 1, 2022
Discussion open until: Jan 25, 2023
ASCE Technical Topics:
- Carbon fibers
- Chemical compounds
- Chemical elements
- Chemicals
- Chemistry
- Chlorine
- Engineering fundamentals
- Engineering materials (by type)
- Environmental engineering
- Equipment and machinery
- Fibers
- Filters
- Filtration
- Geology
- Geotechnical engineering
- Islands
- Materials engineering
- Microbes
- Organisms
- Pollution
- Tanks (by type)
- Water pollution
- Water tanks
- Water treatment
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Cited by
- Lee Voth-Gaeddert, Douglas Momberg, Kela Brathwaite, Andrew Schranck, Stephen Libbey, Mandy Lemley, Point-of-Entry Ultraviolet Water Treatment Program in the US Virgin Islands: Final Program Results, Journal of Environmental Engineering, 10.1061/JOEEDU.EEENG-7372, 149, 10, (2023).
- Lee Voth-Gaeddert, Douglas Momberg, Kela Brathwaite, Andrew Schranck, Mandy Lemley, Stephen Libbey, Evaluating the Effectiveness of Point-of-Entry UV Treatment for Cistern Water among Households in the US Virgin Islands, ACS ES&T Water, 10.1021/acsestwater.2c00595, 3, 2, (608-615), (2023).