Deactivating Environmental Strains of , and from a Real Wastewater Effluent Using UV-LEDs

Environmental bacteria strains are known to be more resistant but studies on UV-LEDs are scarce, especially for and . UV-LEDs of different wavelengths (268 nm, 279 nm and 307 nm) have been used for treating real wastewater from the effluent of the municipal plant in Linares (Spain), with real organic matter content, for , and disinfection. Experimental results demonstrate that 268 nm was the most effective wavelength for inactivation of the three different bacteria strains: showed an inactivation rate of 0.561 at 268 nm vs. 0.245 at 279 nm and 0.0029 for 307 nm; inactivation rate was 0.313 at 268 nm, 0.231 at 279 nm and 0.0023 at 307 nm; and inactivation rate was 0.084 at 268 nm, 0.033 at 279 nm and 6.9e-4 at 307 nm. In general, 307 nm wavelength showed a significantly lower inactivation rate so it would not be recommended for practical applications. required higher UV doses and longer times to achieve complete inactivation.