New water disinfection system using UVA light-emitting diodes

AIM: To evaluate the ability of high-energy ultraviolet A (UVA) light-emitting diode (LED) to inactivate bacteria in water and investigate the inactivating mechanism of UVA irradiation. METHODS AND RESULTS: We developed a new disinfection device equipped with high-energy UVA-LED. Inactivation of bacteria was determined by colony-forming assay. Vibrio parahaemolyticus, enteropathogenic Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli DH5alpha were reduced by greater than 5-log(10) stages within 75 min at 315 J cm(-2) of UVA. Salmonella enteritidis was reduced greater than 4-log(10) stages within 160 min at 672 J cm(-2) of UVA. The formation of 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine in UVA-LED irradiated bacteria was 2.6-fold higher than that of UVC-irradiated bacteria at the same inactivation level. Addition of mannitol, a scavenger of hydroxyl radicals (OH(*)), or catalase, an enzyme scavenging hydrogen peroxide (H(2)O(2)) to bacterial suspensions significantly suppressed disinfection effect of UVA-LED. CONCLUSION: This disinfection system has enough ability to inactivate bacteria and OH(*) and H(2)O(2) participates in the disinfection mechanism of UVA irradiation. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: We newly developed UVA irradiation system and found that UVA alone was able to disinfect the water efficiently. This will become a useful disinfection system.