The use of UV technology effectively ensures that the water quality, both physical and chemical, remains identical before and after the treatment. Additionally, the reaction time between the UV irradiation and the organism to be inactivated is very short and does not create any by-products at all. These are some of the advantages that makes UV technology systems the preferred solution in a wide range of water treatment applications.

The radiation dose or fluence is a design parameter for the disinfection effect of the UV irradiation. The necessary dose to achieve a given inactivation depends on the organism to be killed. The measurement is expressed in mWs/cm² and/or mJ/cm².

UV Transmission is the measure of the UV light’s ability to pass through 1 cm of liquid. When light irradiates the water, the water absorbs a part of the radiation, resulting in a decrease in light intensity from the lamp. The design of ULTRAAQUA UV systems takes this into account, being easy to install, maintain and thoroughly cost-optimized. Get an in-depth view of how uv systems work here.

Ultraviolet lamp technologyUV Lamps & Wavelength

UV is a spectrum of light that is just below the visible range to the human eye. The UV-C spectrum (185 – 280 nm) is known as the germicidal spectrum because it is the region that contains the peak germicidal wavelength (260 nm). The UV units for water treatment consist of a specialized low-pressure high output lamp with Mercury indium amalgam filling that produces ultraviolet radiation at 254 nm – very close to the optimum at 260 nm. Compared to the low-pressure lamps, the medium pressure lamps are less efficient in utilizing usable germicidal wavelengths. Medium pressure lamps generally only convert up to 10% of their input watts into usable UV-C watts, whilst amalgam low-pressure lamps can be up to 40% efficient. There has been a drastic rise in market share for “low pressure-high intensity” amalgam lamps in the past few years. This has primarily been driven by the need for higher electrically efficient lamps (thus lower electrical operating costs) combined with the growing awareness in using “green” technologies to reduce carbon footprint.

UV Disinfection - Recirculating Aquaculture Systems