SODIS Water Disinfection
The SODIS water disinfection system will destroy 99% of waterborne pathogens – bacterial, viral and protozoa – by exposing water in two-liter clear PET bottles for six hours in full sun or partially cloudy conditions between the hours of 9:00am and 3:00 pm.
In 16 SODIS field studies done in Latin America, a disinfection rate of 99% was achieved in 90% of the studies; only 5% of the studies showed a disinfection rate of less than 90%.
In field studies conducted in Guatemala, Kenya, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Nepal and Bolivia, cases of diarrhea were reduced by between 24% and 75% (Catholic Relief Services).
Poor hygiene and sanitation practices contributed to the low-percentage results shown above. It is important to remember that SODIS purified water can be re-infected with improper handling and storage. The SODIS system must also be used in conjunction with proper hand washing, and the safe disposal of faeces.
SODIS reduces the occurrence of enteric diseases caused by these pathogens:
- infectious diarrhea: from bacterial infections with enteropathogenic escherichia coli
- dysentery: watery diarrhea from bacterial infections with Salmonella or Shigella
- dysentery: from parasitic infection with giardia lamblia (“Giardiasis”) or entamoeba hystolytica (“Amoebiasis”)
- cholera: from bacterial infection with vibrio cholera
A full listing of scientific research documents can be found at:
