A woven inorganic silica fabric loaded with Fe-ions (EGF-Fe) was tested under simulated solar light during hydroquinone degradation. The abatement of hydroquinone was observed to attain about ∼80% within 3h. The photo-catalyst was also tested to inactive Escherichia coli K12 at “natural” pH and in the presence of a low concentration of H 2 O 2 . Addition of H 2 O 2 (10mgL −1 ) did not by itself to bacterial inactivation. Total bacterial inactivation was mediated by EGF-Fe fabrics in the presence of H 2 O 2 (10mgL −1 ) under solar light irradiation. A sample containing active (culturable) bacteria (∼10 5 CFUmL −1 ) decreased to values <1CFUmL −1 within 3h reaction. Fe-mediated homogeneous process decreased the bacterial CFU content by about two orders of magnitude within 4h. During the degradation of hydroquinone only a small amount of iron ions were found in solution of about 1.2mgL −1 , within 90min decreasing to values ≤0.5mgL −1 after 180min. The leaching of Fe-ions did not affect the photo-catalyst performance since EGF-Fe fabric did not deactivate after five or more cycles. The Fe-ions founds in solution mineralized hydroquinone to levels below 37% of its initial content. The present study presents the first report on the beneficial role of a heterogeneous iron supported catalyst leading to efficient bacterial inactivation in aqueous solution with iron leaching <0.1mgL −1 , the detection limit for Fe-analysis in solution. No bacterial re-growth was observed during a post-irradiation period up to 24h in the dark.