title: Electrochemical disinfection of drinking water using an activated-carbon-fiber reactor capable of monitoring its microbial fouling.
abstract: An electrochemical reactor employing activated carbon fibers (ACF) was constructed for the disinfection of bacteria in drinking water. The application of an alternating potential of 1.0 V and -0.8 V versus a saturated calomel electrode, for disinfecting and desorbing bacteria, enabled reactor operation for 840 h. Drinking water was passed through the reactor in stop/flow mode: 300 ml/min flow for 12 h and no flow for 12 h, alternately. The bacterial cell density in treated water was always been less than 20 cells/ml. It was also found that the formation of biofilm on the ACF reactor caused an increase in current, enabling the self-detection of microbial fouling.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biotechnology, Tokyo University of Agriculture & Technology, Japan.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Okochi
authors.forename: T K
authors.initials: TK
authors.lastname: Lim
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Nakamura
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Matsunaga
mesh_terms: D000042:Absorption; D018441:Biofilms; D002244:Carbon; D015169:Colony Count, Microbial; D004203:Disinfection / Q000379:methods*; D004553:Electric Conductivity; D004563:Electrochemistry / Q000379:methods*; D004566:Electrodes; D004926:Escherichia coli; D019016:Mineral Fibers; D014871:Water Microbiology; D018508:Water Purification / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D019016:Mineral Fibers; D002244:Carbon