UV Water Treatment

Ultraviolet radiation is often used as a preliminary water treatment for sterilisation and disinfection. Mostly, it pre-treats water supplies that are considered to be biologically contaminated. Examples would be water drawn directly from lakes, rivers and wells. The advantage of UV water treatment systems is that they are a non chemical process that destroys microorganisms and other biological contaminants. The disinfection process is faster than using chlorine, a traditional method some centuries old, and is also very cosy effective in comparison with other water treatment methods. UV treatment is often used to purify and disinfect drinking water. Some standard uses are; Disinfection of surface water; Disinfection of groundwater and borehole water; Re-use of water, such as from toilet to taps; Private water supplying hospitals, food and beverage manufacturers. UV disinfection and sterilisation can be adapted to all domestic, commercial and industrial needs.

The types of microorganisms that it will eliminate include algae, viruses, bacteria, fungi, cysts and protozoa that occur naturally and abundantly in the environment. In particular, this type of water treatment will guard supplies against Gardia and Cryptosporidium, will reduce chloroamines and prevent algal growth. UV treatment can also be installed together with other standard disinfectant products. Although there is a wide range of water treatment and filtration procedures that are able to remove solid particles, lime scale and other metallic compounds and improve taste and odour of the resultant water, none of them are specifically designed to combat micro organisms. UV systems can come with a preliminary filter for sediment removal that needs to be installed before the water flows into the radiation system. Such pre-filters usually come in pairs. The first one will hold larger sized sediment particles between 10 to 30 microns diameter, while the second one traps particles between 1 and 5 microns diameter. Once the water has been irradiated, it should not be stored, but used immediately.