Efficient Low-Technology Apparatus for Sterilising Seawater for Mariculture Research

Abstract

One problem limiting marine biotechnology in low-income countries is lack of durable, inexpensive equipment to sterilise seawater to develop species for research and application (e.g., in medicine and feed production). Autoclaves flounder in low-income countries due to socioeconomic limitations on the maintenance of the equipment. Hence, the objective of this paper was to propose a bench-top ultraviolet (UV) sterilisation apparatus for seawater. The apparatus was fabricated with polyvinyl chloride materials to hold and release filtered seawater into a sterilisation chamber fitted with UV lamp that emits monochromatic light at 254 nm. These materials are relatively cheap and easy to ensemble from local sources. Tests conducted on polluted, tropical seawater collected from the Elmina fishing harbour, near Cape Coast, Ghana show that the apparatus has a disinfection efficiency of 99.6% in 60 minutes, which is similar to the efficiency achieved by autoclave and other expensive methods. The new apparatus can therefore be used to sterilise media for mariculture research and biotechnology applications in resource-constrained environments.

Keywords

• Mariculture research; Seawater sterilisation; Marine microbiology; Ultraviolet light; Coliform bacteria