Determination of disinfection efficiency by copper ionization

In this study, it is aimed to determine the disinfection efficiency of copper ions obtained by ionization. Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus epidermidis inactivations at different copper ion concentrations (0,5, 1,5, 3,3 mg/L) were determined by ATP measurement, which is a luminometric method as well as cultural method. In addition, the effect of water properties such as pH, bicarbonate and Ca+2 and Mg+2 hardnesson disinfection efficiency were determined. The experiments were carried out at different pH values (6, 7 and 8,5), bicarbonate values (0, 50 and 150 mg/L), Ca+2 and Mg+2 hardness values (0, 50 and 150 mg/L), selected copper ion concentrations. Copper ionization was found to be effective in inactivation of test bacteria. When the inactivation coefficients has been compared, it has been seen that the inactivation coefficients increase due to the increase of copper ion concentration for all bacteria. The results showed that the inactivation coefficients of Escherichia coli were higher in all three copper ion concentrations than Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus epidermidis. This suggests that Escherichia coli is removed more than Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus epidermidis and more sensitive to disinfection. In experiments conducted to determine the effect of water pH on disinfection with copper ions, it was found that acidic pH is a parameter that increases the disinfection efficiency of Escherichia coli inactivation. It was determined that the presence of bicarbonate ion, Ca+ 2 and Mg+ 2 hardness had no significant effect on Escherichia coli inactivation. It was determined that the bacterial ATP values measured at the beginning of disinfection decreased according to the copper doses and contact time at the end of disinfection. This decrease in the amount of ATP is parallel to the decrease in the number of bacteria. As a result, it was concluded that copper ions were effective on water disinfection, and ATP measurement could be a promising method for determination of microbial quality of water in a short time.