Ultraviolet Radiation In Water Treatment

It s long been known that ultraviolet uv radiation has germicidal properties.

Ultraviolet radiation in water treatment.

Ultraviolet water treatment units should be installed after any water pre treatment process just before the cold and hot branch lines. Disinfecting your water with uv is exceptionably simple effective and environmentally safe. A low pressure mercury arc lamp resembling a fluorescent lamp produces the uv light in the range of 254 manometers nm. Its use can be traced back to 1910 when a solar uv disinfection system was installed in a municipal water facility in marseilles france.

Essentially ultraviolet light is produced by means of a germicidal or mercury vapor lamp made with glass that allows the optimal shortwave ultraviolet light a fully transparent surface through which to pass. The technology requires effective prefiltering due to its dependence on low water turbidity cloudiness the correct power delivery and correct contact times to achieve maximum pathogen reduction. Uv is often the last device in the treatment train a series of treatment devices following reverse osmosis water softening or filtration. The flux power must be measured at a wavelength of 253 7 nm.

The shortwave radiation then comes into contact with the parasite bacteria fungi or other microorganism and eliminates it. It is either housed in a quartz glass sleeve inside the water. Ultraviolet systems destroy 99 99 of harmful microorganisms without adding chemicals or changing your water s taste or odor. The uv unit can either be a point of entry system treating all the water entering the house or a point of use device treating water from a single tap as a final disinfection method.

If in doubt about the size of an uv unit that is needed always use a larger unit rather than a smaller unit. Well designed water treatment systems always locate uv light disinfection systems as close to the point of use as possible. Ultraviolet light uv light can be used as a pathogen reduction method against some microorganisms. Uv rays penetrate harmful pathogens in your home s water and destroy illness causing microorganisms by attacking their genetic core dna.

While uv radiation was among the earliest recognized methods of disinfection its use was reduced around this same period because of the advent of chlorination and ozonation. The uv lamps for water treatment consist of specialized low pressure mercury vapor lamps that produce ultraviolet radiation at 254 nm or medium pressure uv lamps that produce a polychromatic output from 200 nm to visible and infrared energy. The uv lamp never contacts the water. Principles of uv disinfection home water treatment uv radiation has three wavelength zones.