You might be reading this post because you have come across news about the ultra-violet water filtration systems. Well, these are more purifiers than filters to begin with! Ultra-violet water purification systems have turned into cost effective solutions for handling the water in your homes. The primary purpose of these filters is to get rid of biological impurities in water. In simpler terms, these filters are designed to remove water-borne molds, bacteria and viruses.
As a result, any disease spread by these pathogens can be eliminated. Some of the most common caused diseases by pathogens in water would be cryptosporidium and giardia. In fact, viruses that can increase the chances of Hepatitis are also spread through water. This is mainly because the hepatitis virus is known to be immune to chlorine. Even if your water is treated with a heavy dose of chlorine, there are risks of catching hepatitis. Fortunately, ultra violet filtration helps in removing these micro-organisms. The UV treatment might sound fancy and complicated. But, is quite similar to many other water filtering methods.
In this post you will read about everything you need to know about a basic Ultraviolet Purification system.
How do ultraviolet purifiers work?
First things first, you need to become familiar with how these purifiers work. By default, ultraviolet represents an invisible form of light that is emitted by multiple sources. In fact, the sun is also responsible for emitting a good dose of UV rays. The intensity of the UV light is responsible for killing pathogens. This light has the power to go through the DNA of microbes. And, when the radiations are produced at the right intensity, it can break the DNA structure of micro-organisms. Most Ultraviolet purification water systems are built of UV light rays within 254 nanometers. This output is sufficient to generate radiations that are more powerful than what is released by the sun.
The design of UV purification systems can blow you off your feet. To begin with, you will find a light source inside the filter. The light source will be the first element, present in the water purification system. It is often positioned in front of the flow chamber. Water is sent into the flow chamber. The moment water reaches the flow chamber, UV light is sent through it. During this act, any harmful bacteria and microbes will be destroyed. Experts consider this as the sterile state of water.
Take home time: UV filtration makes use of germicidal radiations at the right frequency and intensity to get rid of harmful bacteria and viruses from water.
Technically, UV filtration systems are capable of removing around 99.9% of micro-organisms from water. This way, the chances of developing water-borne diseases like Typhoid, flu, cholera and hepatitis can be reduced. Even if your municipal claims that water is treated well, you may need to engage in an additional dose of purification. This will give you the peace of mind, you have always lacked on the quality of water you consume.
Limitations in UV water filtration systems
Now, these filters do have few limitations. Though the sound of this technology is amazing. The water purification system cannot render your entire water supply as safe. If you want to drink, cook and bath in UV treated water – you may need to introduce few more filtration systems in the cycle. This is mainly because Ultraviolet filtration systems are designed to handle only the micro-organisms. This includes the viruses and bacteria. This technology doesn’t do a good job against contaminants like heavy metals and chlorine. Most volatile organic compounds in water cannot be removed using UV filters.
So, what are Volatile organic compounds?
By default, Volatile organic compounds are chemicals created by man. These chemicals have always found a water into the natural water cycle. In fact, ground water in different parts of the world are contaminated by VOCs. During the manufacturing of petroleum, refrigerants and paints – a good amount of VOC is released into the environment. Trying to get rid of these impurities using UV filters will be futile. This is when other filtration systems like Granular activate carbon, and degradation fluxion systems become handy. GAC and KDF filters are capable of removing lead, chlorine, mercury, iron and many more impurities from water.
Benefits of UV filtration
Since you are aware of the limitation in UV filtration, let’s get started on the benefits. The most important and prominent advantage of these treatments would be “affordability”. Many a times, people relate such technologies with “high prices”. Well, this is not true in the case of UV filters. When compared to many more filtration methods, UV water filtration is highly cost effective. Even though these filters are doing a life-saving job, they can be bought at an affordable price. In fact, you can protect all the water outlets in your home using the UV house systems.
Next, the amount of energy consumed by these systems is very less. On an average, you need to supply only the energy of a 60-watt bulb. This means, Ultra violet filtration will not add more burden on your utility bills.
Thirdly, UV filters don’t introduce new chemicals into water. The introduction of new impurities into water is always a challenge. Trying to get rid of these impurities will be even more difficult. Fortunately, you don’t have this problem with UV filtration. When impurities are not added into water, the overall odor and taste of water remains unchanged. This means, you can enjoy clean and pure water without any unpleasant tastes or smells. A primary reason why no impurities are added into water would be the fact that “harmful bi-products” are not created during the filtration process.
Finally, Ultraviolet filtration systems are very easy to maintain, and install. These systems will not damage the plumbing lines in your home. Likewise, they will not have a negative impact on your septic tanks. All your water equipment will be kept intact by these sophisticated filtration systems.
On the whole, places with high rates of water-borne diseases need the help of UV filtration systems to get rid of the micro-organisms.