Abstract
inactivation in water. Experiments conducted at the Kapshagay Reservoir showed that the PED system inactivated E. coli and P. aeruginosa pathogens by 99.6%- 99.99% within 30- 60 seconds, corresponding to a 4-7 log reduction. The energy consumption ranged from 0.05 to 0.2 kWh/m3, which is more efficient than ozonation (0.03-0.04 kWh/m³), but lower than ultrasonic cavitation (0.2-0.5 kWh/m³). When water conductivity ranged from 420 to 950 µS/cm, the PED system reduced microbial load by 4-7 log levels. The results demonstrate that PED technology is an effective, energy-efficient, and environmentally safe solution for water purification, without the need for chemical reagents. However, to improve its economic feasibility, maintenance costs need to be reduced.The main objective of this study is to evaluate the efficiency of pulsed high-voltage electric discharge (PED) for microbial inactivation in real water from the Kapshagay Reservoir and to compare its performance with conventional disinfection methods in terms of energy consumption and treatment time.The novelty of this work lies in applying PED to water from a large natural surface reservoir under seasonally varying hydrochemical conditions (conductivity, turbidity, temperature) and in coupling field-scale experiments with multiphysics modeling and an automated quality-control workflow