Harnessing salinity gradient energy in coastal stormwater runoff to reduce pathogen loading

Abstract

Stormwater runoff is a significant source of coastal pathogen pollution. Here, we demonstrate field-scale use of a charge-free mixing entropy battery (MEB) to tap the salinity gradient voltage between stormwater and seawater and use it to power stormwater disinfection in an UV-LED module, achieving a 2.8 log reduction in E. coli.