In many developing countries, the luxury of tap water is not an option. About 2 thirds of humans on earth get drinking water from outside their dwelling.

To address this health and energy issue, an effort was set upon by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Indoor Environment Program to introduce a UV water purifier that would work in developing countries.

The device to provide a durable and inexpensive unit that can be setup locally and maintained easily. The result: UV Waterworks.

Another unit with a twist, to Ultra Violet Purification.

This Ultra Violet Waterworks would be able to disinfect drinking water for a relatively low price, including the cost of electricity used for the UV system, and the annualized capital cost of the UV WaterWorks System. The original cost would be approximately Three Hundred Dollars, the UV System would use 40 watts of electricity, and would provide 4 gallons of UV Purified drinking water per minute.

The UV Purifier disinfection process is energy-efficient and uses approx 20k times less energy than the standard alternative: Distilling (a.k.a. Boiling) drinking water over a stove.

How the system purifies drinking water

The UV WaterWorks technology uses UV (ultraviolet) light to kill or disable waterborne pathogens (such as bacteria, molds and viruses) found in the water supply. Ultra Violet light is classified by three wave length ranges.

This unit uses UV-C. This is a germicidal ultraviolet light system that is widely used to kill micro organisms found in air, water, and other liquids. The most effective wavelength of UV light is 253.7nm and it would disable microorganisms found in the different environments mentioned. UV Germicidal system applications include but are not limited to drinking water sterilization, UV Ultraviolet Light air cleaning, among many others.

The germicidal UV destroys and inactivates the DNA of the microorganisms and therefore they loose their ability to reproduce. Light with a wavelength of 253.7 nm gives the highest germicidal efficacy in the Ultra Violet range.

Since the UV operates at the wavelength at which a mercury lamp emits roughly ninety percent of its light, standard fluorescent technology can be used in the Water Works UV system.

Are you aware that the glass light fixtures used in fluorescent lamps which can be found today in many offices and homes, are coated with a phosphor that is there simply to absorb Ultra Violet light and give off visible light. The UV lamp in the UV water disinfection device is similar to standard fluorescent lights, but the glass tube is NOT coated with a phosphor, and it is also constructed with a special glass that is transparent to UV light. This Germicidal variety of lamps are available through many manufacturers that produce standard fluorescent bulbs.

The one-time capital cost of Ultra Violet Waterworks includes the material, fittings, and labor. According to the designers, life of the UV Base metal unit is expected to run approx. Fifteen years, the Ultra Violet Bulbs need replacement every now and then. Assuming the UV system operates for 12 hours per day and you pay for electricity 8 cents per kWh, the annual cost for electricity while operating a UV Water Purification system would be approximately Fourteen Dollars.

In addition to this one may consider the cost of Bulbs, ballasts, and starters for the Ultra Violet Water Purification system. These can be purchased off the shelf, at many sources online and offline.

It still needs to be taken into consideration the total annualized cost of the 35-watt Ultra Violet Bulb, ballast, UV metal chamber, and the actual cost for electric. In a developing village or town, the customers would provide their own pump (by Hand) for groundwater or storage tanks and a sand filter to remove particles etc. The raw materials for those are available and not too expensive either.

If the UV disinfection water system operates for 12 hours a day, 4,000 tons (4 million liters) of water can be disinfected each and every year. Using a per-ca-pita pure drinking water requirement of 10 liters per day, a single UV WaterWorks system might be able to provide enough water for approximately 1000 people.

More on the UV WaterWorks can be found here

The Trojan Ultraviolet lamp is the heart of any UV Purifier system, and the TrojanUVMax Pro Series has more heart than ever.

The Ultra Violet lamp makes use of revolutionary new technology that delivers significantly greater power, stable UV output and longer life.

With the new UV lamps, the dose required is the dose delivered – all the time.

Why is that so?

Why are the UV lamps providing the dose exactly as required?

Because the lamps are completely stable and not affected by ambient conditions. Stability means peace of mind. It also means you can install UV is a greater range of applications, from ice cold water to hot water recirculation lines.

Traditional UV lamps produce an amount of Ultra Violet Rays that can vary depending on ambient water (and air) temperature, sometimes resulting in nuisance alarms and restricting their field of use.

The Trojan new UV lamps pump out twice the UV light of current high-output lamps, allowing greatly reduced footprint of the equipment. This translates to simpler installation of tighter corners. In fact, 30 gpm can be treated with a single lamp that is just over three feet long.

This is just the beginning of the revolutionary new TrojanUVMax Pro Series. For a far better view of all the new features, one may visit the Trojan UV website for an indepth look at all it has to offer.

Can you tell me what this system, TGI 6 Stage Reverse Osmosis Water Filter, filters from the water, how much and how was it tested

The answer to your question in one word: EVERYTHING. The system you inquired about got the WQA Gold Seal. The Water Quality Association (WQA) is the international trade association representing the household, commercial, industrial, and small community water treatment industry. They perform tests before giving any recommendation for any system. Reverse Osmosis + Ultra Violet would be sort of the best of the best combination! This contains a sediment filter, carbon filters for taste and odor, the Reverse Osmosis Membrane (main part of reverse osmosis) for any contaminant left in the water, a post-carbon filter, and Ultra Violet Purification (UV) to further kill bacteria that might be in the water. Please note: if the problem is hard water, a water softener is suggested. The RO-UV could handle it, but for only a short period of time before the hardness will clog the system.

Thanks for the input. Actually I was hoping you would have a list of what specific contaminants this system removes and the percentage of each specific contaminant it removes. Do you have any test with this information on it? This would be very helpful for me to evaluate such a RO/UV water purification system.

The following are part of the contaminants that are removed:

All of the above are removed/reduced by 94/99.98% according to the NSF and WQA.

NOTE: If you have problematic water and have done a water analysis on it, the unit described herein may not need to be used.

Not all water is equal, so are water treatment systems to be unique.

How often should I replace my UV bulb?

That’s a good question. You see, many manufacturers recommend to replace your uv bulb once every 12 months of continuous use. However, it really depends on the condition and specific unit in question.

Although the ultra-violet bulb appears to be in working condition, that is you see it emitting visible light, it still may not be good enough to emit at the required 254nm wavelength; therefore it’s advisable not to rely on a simple visual test.

In addition to the above, you may wish to clean the glass whenever you are replacing the bulb since any blockage might impair the effectiveness of the UV light, resulting in a ultra violet malfunction.

UV is the only effective method of treating bottled water without compromising marketing assets.

Minute contaminants in rinse water, including microorganisms and total organic compounds (TOC), can adversely affect yields and must be removed by the water purification system. In order to meet these demands, UV technology for disinfection and organics removal is often used in the water treatment scheme.

UV offers protection without the use of chemicals, and with recent developments in high-energy UV technology, higher quality standards are now achievable in a more simplified, efficient and cost-effective manner.

A nice and in-depth article can be seen for everything You Need to Know about Ultraviolet Water Purification by John Mone.

Chlorine Versus Ultraviolet Purification

As a tertiary treatment for water, chlorination offers the advantage of continued disinfection after initial treatment, since some chlorine remains in the water with residual germ fighting action.

The ultraviolet method, however, has none of the following disadvantages of chlorine:

1. UV treatment needs only to be set to work. Chlorine treatment requires operation attention.
2. In small installations, when chlorine gas is liberated from a chlorine cylinder or moistened crystals or pellets, the fumes are extremely dangerous and may even be lethal. Ultra violet has none of these problems.
3. Chlorine itself is a highly corrosive and toxic chemical. UV not.
4. UV adds nothing to the water. Chlorine is an additive material, and it may impart an undesirable taste to the water and a decrease in pH.
5. While UV is a safe method of purification, chlorine is chemically active and can react with foreign ingredients (e.g., as found in industrial waste-water) to form toxic compounds, a matter of increasing concern to the Federal Government and to many states and municipalities.
6. In addition to all of the above, chlorine can combine with ammonia to form chloramine which is toxic to fish even at low concentration, it may also combine with phenol to form “clorophenols”, another dangerously toxic compound.

To some it all up: ultra violet water purification is the only effective method of treating bottled water without compromising marketing assets.

Re: Purtrex 5 micron 9 7/8″ repl filter

The filter is online at Sediment 5 Micron Filter.

Suits any systems with the standard 2 1/2” x 10” filter housings.

Note: this is sediment removal filter that would not remove any bacteria. Such can be removed with UV water purifiers or carbon filters.

For hard water, a water softener shall be used.