This study evaluates and compares the effectiveness of solar photo-Fenton systems for the inactivation of hepatitis A virus (HAV) in water. The effect of solar irradiance, dark- Fenton reaction and three different reactant concentrations (2.5/5, 5/10 and 10/20 mg/L of Fe2+/H2O2) on the photo-Fenton process were tested in glass bottle reactors (200 mL) during 6 h under natural sunlight. Disinfection kinetics were determined both by RT-qPCR and infectivity assays. Mean water temperatures ranged from 25 to 27.3 °C, with a maximum local noon UV irradiances of 22.36 W/m2. Photo-Fenton systems yielded increased viral reduction rates in comparison with the isolated effect under the Fenton reaction in darkness (negligible viral reduction) or the solar radiation (0.25 Log of RNA reduction). With the highest concentration employed (10-20 mg/L Fe2+-H2O2), an average RNA reduction rate of ~ 1.8 Log (initial concentration of 105 pfu/mL) and a reduction of 80% in the infectivity capacity were reached. Results showed a strong synergistic effect between Fe2+/H2O2 and sunlight, demonstrating that significant disinfection rates of HAV under photo-Fenton systems may occur with relatively higher efficiency at middle environmental temperatures and without the need for an energy-intensive light source.
Keywords: Hepatitis A; Photo–Fenton; Virus inactivation; Water disinfection.