GB830296A - A method of disinfecting potable waters - Google Patents

Abstract

Potable waters are disinfected by a method which comprises forming a film of sponge silver upon a finely divided inert carrier material e.g. diatomite, acitve carbon, pumice, and silica, and collecting the material on a coarse, porous framework e.g. a "Cuno" (Registered Trade Mark) micro-filter cartridge, filter plates, bowls or other matrix, to form a porous member having pores of diameter less than 80 microns, preferably between 5 and 10 microns, and passing water to be disinfected through the porous member to cause an exchange reaction between the silver sponge and the sulphydryl groups of bacterial cells in the water. Where diatomite is used, the silver sponge is formed thereon by the reduction of organic silver complexes of high molecular weight, e.g. the Werner complexes. In the examples porous members are made by infiltrating felted filter cartridges of melamine coated paper fibre with a slurry of silver sponge coated diatomite, and by depositing on a woven nylon filter a mixture of equal volumes of silver sponge coated diatomite with activated carbon dust.