Drinking Water Disinfection Using Nutritional Level Zinc Assisted with Electric Field Treatment

Next-generation drinking water treatment should not only ensure effective disinfection without generating harmful byproducts but also contribute to human health. Herein, we report the first demonstration of a combined electric field treatment and zinc (EFT-Zn) process that achieves water disinfection at Zn concentrations within safe and nutritionally beneficial limits, providing a previously unexplored approach for applying Zn in drinking water disinfection. Using a lab-on-a-chip device, we directly visualized and quantified the synergistic effect between electric field exposure and Zn < 5 mg/L for microbial inactivation. This synergistic mechanism was further validated in a bench-scale continuous-flow reactor, achieving ∼3-log inactivation of Staphylococcus epidermidis and Escherichia coli at 1.5 V and 3 mg/L Zn. A scaled-up system was subsequently developed and demonstrated effective disinfection of natural surface waters at a practical flow rate of 420 mL/min. Collectively, these findings establish EFT-Zn as a scalable, efficient, and health-promoting water disinfection strategy that integrates both microbial safety with micronutrient fortification, providing a foundation for next-generation sustainable drinking water technologies.