SOLVATTEN is a household water cleaning device that cleans water with solar energy using filtration, pasteurization and UV sterilization. A field study of the necessary amount of solar insolation that is required to make water drinkable has been carried out in Kenya using a new type of indicator developed by Solvatten AB.  This new indicator will complement the old one, which only registers the temperature, with new features to store information about temperature and insolation. The indicators have been calibrated for energy and temperature and a Matlab program has been developed to analyze the information registered by the indicators. The program handles the time shifting that occurs since the indicator only saves the data at some point during a quarter of an hour. It also handles temperature correction and does a suitable curve fitting using polyfit and spline. The experiments have been divided into two parts, one where the relationship between UV and total solar insolation has been studied and one where we have taken water samples and studied the limiting factors of temperature, UV and total insolation for drinkable water. Previous studies have showed that the water in SOLVATTEN gets clean at 55 C. To reach this temperature the required UV245-400 and UV190-570 insolation is 83.0 Wh/m2 and 307 Wh/m2 according to our tests. The required total insolation is 2680 Wh/m2. From our measurement it can be seen that it is possible for water to be clean at 53 °C. During our artificial tests where we pre-heated the water and thus decreased the total insolation, we never got below 8.2 Wh/indicator which correspond to 1940 Wh/m2 of total insolation at 55 °C. The limit for clean water shown from earlier tests by Solvatten AB is 8 Wh/indicator. Even when the temperature was lower than 55 °C and we got clean water, the insolation was never below this value. This means that it is the temperature that is the limiting factor; however the synergy effect with the insolation is essential for the cleaning process. When it is cloudy the amount of UV that SOLVATTEN receives will be lower compared to the total insolation. With more clouds the temperature will drop and rise many times, while the insolation continues to increase. This means that more clouds will give more total insolation. The shortest time it took to reach 55 °C was 1 hours and 45 minutes at an optimal angle to the sun. / SOLVATTEN är en vattenreningslösning för hushåll som kombinerar filtrering, uppvärmning samt UV-strålning för att döda bakterier. Det är en 11 liters plastdunk, där ena sidan är genomskinlig, och efter att den har exponerats i solen mellan 2- 6 timmar är vattnet rent. En fältstudie har genomförts i Kenya för att undersöka exakt hur mycket solinstrålning som krävs för att vattnet ska bli rent. Idag finns det en väl fungerande indikator som mäter vattnets temperatur men en ny indikator har tagits fram av Solvatten AB som även mäter solinstrålningen och kan lagra den tillsammans med vattentemperaturen. Indikatorerna har kalibrerats för att få rätt energi och temperatur och ett Matlab-program har utvecklats för att kunna analysera informationen. För att kunna ta fram exakta värden används funktionerna polyfit och spline för att kurvanpassa datan. Programmet tar även hänsyn och korrigerar för de fel som kan uppkomma då tiden sparas. Dessa tidsfel uppkommer då indikatorerna endast skriver informationen någon gång under en kvart. Fältstudien är uppdelad i två delar, en där relationen mellan UV och total instrålning har studerats och en där vattenprover har tagits för att undersöka vilken som är den begränsande faktorn för rent vatten; temperatur, UV eller total instrålning. Tidigare studier har visat att SOLVATTEN blir rent vid 55 C. För att lyckas uppnå denna temperatur har det i vår studie krävts 83.0 Wh/m2 av UV245-400 och 307 Wh/m2 av UV190-570. När det gäller den totala instrålningen har det behövts 2680 Wh/m2. Vi har sett att det är möjligt för vattnet att bli rent vid 53 °C. Under våra tester då vi förvärmde vattnet och på sätt fick mindre instrålning, lyckades vi aldrig få under 8.2 Wh/indikator vilket motsvarar 1940 Wh/m2 av totala instrålningen, detta vid 55 °C. Tidigare tester av Solvatten AB visar att det behövs 8 Wh/indikator för att uppnå rent vatten och då vi aldrig lyckades få in mindre instrålning än så tyder det på att det är temperaturen som är den begränsande faktorn. Dock är instrålningen nödvändig då det är synergieffekten mellan värme och instrålningen som uppnår rent vatten vid så låga temperaturer. Om det är mycket moln på himlen sjunker och ökar temperaturen många gånger medan solinstrålningen fortsätter att ackumuleras. Detta betyder att den instrålade energin som når SOLVATTEN blir högre då det krävs längre exponeringstid för att nå 55 °C. Dock har vi sett att mängden UV inte ökar lika mycket som den totala instrålningen men ett generellt förhållande av hur UV och total instrålning förändras vid molnigt väder är dock svårt att kunna få fram. Den kortaste tiden för att uppnå rent vatten är 1 timme och 45 minuter då SOLVATTEN har haft en optimal vinkel mot solen.

This study focused on the investigation of the impact of household cleaning and personal care products on the quality of grey water and the assessment and optimisation of grey water treatment by a novel constructed wetland design. The prototype wetland design which comprised three-stage cascading beds (0.27 m 2 by 0.20 m deep) with sand media, (d10: 1.0 mm and d90: 4.0 mm) was tested for treatment performance to meet non-potable reuse standards in three versions, unplanted open beds, unplanted covered beds, and planted beds (comprising mixtures of Iris pseudacorus, Iris chrysographes, Carex elata Aurea and Mentha aquatica). The prototypes were benchmarked against a standard single-pass wetland (6 m 2 by 0.7 m) planted with Phragmites australis. Performance was measured in terms of removal of conventional water quality determinant parameters, as well as Total coliforms and E coli, and surfactants. Microbial dynamics were also monitored during the study by looking at variations in microbial compositions with time for the different wetlands. All the wetland versions effectively removed more than 98 % turbidity and organics meeting the most stringent reuse wastewater reuse standards of < 2.0 NTU and < 10 mg BOD5/L respectively. The influent grey water had low BOD:COD ratio ranging from 0.27 – 0.45, which is indicative of low biodegradability. The comparison of the cascade wetland performances showed the following: open beds > planted = covered, with the open beds version meeting reuse standards virtually throughout the monitoring period, despite recurrence of schmutsdecke in the top bed. All wetland technologies supported viable populations of microorganisms. Only phospholipid fatty acids (PLFAs) of lower carbon chain length (< C20) had concentrations greater than 1 mol %, in all the wetlands beds, confirming that the majority of the PLFAs in the media were from contribution of microbial organisms and not plant organic matter. Characterisation of microbial organisms was carried out to understand the constructed wetlands functioning and thus the treatment processes. The household products showed nutrient deficiency signifying low treatability. Product branding did not show correlation with any water quality parameters. In terms of toxicity, laundry and cleaning products were more inhibiting to soil microorganisms than were personal care products.

Grey water is sewage water from bath, bathtub, sinks, washing machines and washers. This water can be cleaned to white water usefull for irrigation, flashing toilets, cleaning cars and for cleaning. This master´s thesis deals with management of water and their possibilities. First part contains description about possibilities of saving drinking water and their the most effective saving. Next part consists study of technological link for grey water cleaning and calculation of saving water with rate of return.

Self-activation is a process that takes advantage of the gases emitted from the pyrolysis process of biomass to activate the converted carbon. The pyrolytic gases from the biomass contain CO2 and H2O, which can be used as activating agents. As two common methods, both of physical activation using CO2 and chemical activation using ZnCl2 introduce additional gas (CO2) or chemical (ZnCl2), in which the CO2 emission from the activation process or the zinc compound removal by acid from the follow-up process will cause environmental concerns. In comparison with these conventional activation processes, the self-activation process could avoid the cost of activating agents and is more environmentally friendly, since the exhaust gases (CO and H2) can be used as fuel or feedstock for the further synthesis in methanol production. In this research, many types of biomass were successfully converted into activated carbon through the self-activation process. An activation model was developed to describe the changes of specific surface area and pore volume during the activation. The relationships between the activating temperature, dwelling time, yield, specific surface area, and specific pore volume were detailed investigated. The highest specific surface area and pore volume of the biomass-derived activated carbon through the self-activation process were up to 2738 m2 g-1 and 2.209 cm3 g-1, respectively. Moreover, the applications of the activated carbons from the self-activation process have been studied, including lithium-ion battery (LIB) manufacturing, water cleaning, oil absorption, and electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding.