UVTube Description
Description
Ultraviolet light produced by a germicidal lamp inside a treatment chamber. During the past 6 years, graduates students have been designing and testing a low-cost ultraviolet water disinfection device specifically for peri-urban and rural areas in poor countries, called the UV-Tube project.
Development
Renewable and Appropriate Energy Laboratory
Civil and Environmental Engineering Department
University of California, Berkeley
Ultraviolet light produced by a germicidal lamp inside a treatment chamber. During the past 6 years, graduates students have been designing and testing a low-cost ultraviolet water disinfection device specifically for peri-urban and rural areas in poor countries, called the UV-Tube project.
Development
Renewable and Appropriate Energy Laboratory
Civil and Environmental Engineering Department
University of California, Berkeley
Performance
Amount of Water Treated
Low pressure mercy arc UV lamp can treat 1 or more liters per minute.
Contaminant Removal
UV lamps have been shown to kill 99.9 percent of vegetative bacteria, enteric viruses, and bacterial spores. Removal rates for UV lamps are lowered by the presence of organic matter, iron, sulfites, nitrites, and turbidity because these particles absorb UV radiation and shield microbes from being hit with UV rays. UV radiation does not treat chemical contamination or turbidity.
Ease of Use
UV lamp need to be cleaned regularly and handled with care because of their mercury content.
Low pressure mercy arc UV lamp can treat 1 or more liters per minute.
Contaminant Removal
UV lamps have been shown to kill 99.9 percent of vegetative bacteria, enteric viruses, and bacterial spores. Removal rates for UV lamps are lowered by the presence of organic matter, iron, sulfites, nitrites, and turbidity because these particles absorb UV radiation and shield microbes from being hit with UV rays. UV radiation does not treat chemical contamination or turbidity.
Ease of Use
UV lamp need to be cleaned regularly and handled with care because of their mercury content.
Benefits & Drawbacks
Benefits
Communities with solar or grid electricity and financial ability to cover most of initial costs.
- Large quantities of disinfected water can be obtained quickly
- Minimal behavior change required
- Moderate initial cost
- Requires 110/120 volt or 230/240 volt AC power source
- Lamp tube needs replacement every 6 - 12 months
Communities with solar or grid electricity and financial ability to cover most of initial costs.
Costs
UV lamp costs include the actual unit, electricity,
and replacement bulbs, which are typically needed
once a year. A small batch UV lamp system used at
the community level and all related expenses
typically cost less than US$1 per household per
year. When used at the household-level, UV lamps
and related expenses average US$10 to $100 a year.
Resources
References & Links
- Making Clean Water To Those Who Need It Most [PDF]
- The UV-Tube as an Appropriate Technology [PDF]
- UV Tube: A Novel and Inexpensive Tool [PDF]
- The UV-Tube as an Appropriate Water Technology [PDF]
- Portable Water Disinfection [PDF]
- Design and Evaluation of a Low-Cost Point-of-Use Ultraviolet Water Disinfection Device [PDF]
- Meeting the Need for Safe Drinking Water in Rural Mexico Through Point-of-Use Treatment [PDF]
- UV Tube: A Novel and Inexpensive Tool for the Provision of Clean Water [PDF]
- The UV-Tube Project
- Researchers Help Bring Clean Water to Households
- UV-Tube for Disinfecting Water
- Engineers for a Sustainable World
- RAEL Berkeley
- UV Tube in Rural Baja California Sur, Mexico
- ERG Students Bring UV-Water Purification to Rural Communities