Ultraviolet disinfection systems are mysterious to many people. How can light kill bacteria? But the truth is it can. 

Ultraviolet (UV) technology has been around for more than 80 years, and its effectiveness has been well documented both scientifically and commercially. It is nature's own disinfection/purification method. With consumers becoming more concerned about chlorine and other chemical contamination of drinking water, more dealers are prescribing the ultraviolet solution suitable for both small flow residential applications as well as large flow commercial projects. 

Ultraviolet is a means of killing or rendering harmless microorganisms in a dedicated environment. These microorganisms can range from bacteria and viruses to algae and protozoa. UV disinfection is used in air and water purification, sewage treatment protection of food and beverages, and many other disinfections and sterilization applications. 

A major advantage of UV treatment is that it is capable of disinfecting water faster than chlorine without cumbersome retention tanks and harmful chemicals. UV treatment systems are also extremely cost efficient! 

Technically, ultraviolet is one energy region of the electromagnetic spectrum, which lies between the x-ray region and the visible region. UV itself lies in the ranges of 200 nanometers (nm) to 390 nanometers (nm). Optimum UV germicidal action occurs at 260 nm. 

Since natural germicidal UV from the sun is screened out the earth's atmosphere, we must look to alternative means of producing UV light. This is accomplished through the conversion of electrical energy in a low-pressure mercury vapor hard glass quartz lamp. Electrons flow through the ionized mercury vapor between the electrodes of the lamp, which then creates UV light. 

As UV light penetrates through the cell wall and cytoplasmic membrane, it causes a molecular rearrangement of the microorganism's DNA, which prevents it from reproducing. If the cell cannot reproduce, it is considered dead. 

The design of an ultraviolet sterilizer has an extremely important bearing on how the UV Dose is delivered and Dosage is the most critical function of UV disinfections. As individual UV lamps emit a set amount of ultraviolet energy, it is important that a system be sized correctly. Flow rates are the determining factor and must not be overstated. Contact time, which is the time the water is within the sterilization chamber, is directly proportional to Dosage, which is the amount of energy per unit area (calculated by dividing the output in watts by the surface area of the lamp), and thus the overall effectiveness of microbial destruction in the system. This product of intensity and time is known as the Dose and is expressed in microwatt seconds per centimeter squared (uWsec/cm2). 

For maximum UV transmission a hard glassquartz sleeve is recommended for two main reasons. It isolates the lamp from the water to offer more uniform operating temperatures and allows for higher UV output into the water. 

A variety of optional features may be added on to the UV sterilizers. They include UV monitoring devices that measure the actual UV output, solenoid shut-off devices that will stop the water flow in the event of a system failure, flow control devices to properly limit the water flow in the units, audible and visual alarms (both local and remote) to warn of lamp failures, high temperature sensors to monitor excessive temperatures in the reactor chamber or control panel, and hour meters to monitor the running time of the UV lamps.

About the Author:

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