Journal of Chemical Engineering & Process Technology
Open Access

Abstract

Validation of the PATHOGENA Electron-Activated Reactor for Purifying Contaminated Water in the Parkersburg Area in West

Stephen Opoku-Duah, Gordon Wells, Wycliff Kipkomoi, Ashley Wilcox, Dennis Johnson and Mark Wiley

This paper concerns validation of the PATHOGENA version of electron-activated reactors designed to purify contaminated water to make it potable. The basic design of PATHOGENA is a 100-gallon plastic tank batch reactor which houses a vapor-ion plasma (VIP) generator and 1-micron ion-separator (ION-SEP) porous water filter. While the VIP generator splits ambient air into aggressive water treatment agents in the form of charged ions, free electrons, hydroxyl and peroxyl radicals using UV radiation, the ION-SEP filter is designed to eliminate broad-spectrum bacteria and other microbes. The validation process was started with creation of water quality database from: (a) contaminated surface water; (b) EPA/West Virginia Water Quality Standards, and (c) Vienna City Council drinking water. The PATHOGENA purifier was then run 14 days/month from April-September 2014 and samples analyzed for chemical and bacteriological quality. When the results were matched against previous data, PATHOGENA compared favorably with both EPA/West Virginia water quality standards and Vienna City drinking water (R2 = 0.99; p<0.011; N = 13). The study found PATHOGENA as an affordable technology capable of delivering clean water to households at about $0.27 per person per day with economic savings of nearly $7.00 at the same rate.