Sewage and other forms of wastewaters (aquaculture, animal production and human production) have traditionally been considered an undesirable product of society that must be disposed of in the most expeditious way. To protect the environment and public health, US regulations, require the treatment of wastewater to remove its organic composition and disinfection to kill its pathogenic (bacteria, protozoans, and viruses) content before it can be discharged into the environment (rivers, lakes, oceans) or reclaimed for beneficial uses. Historically, chlorine has been the disinfectant of choice. However, continued use of chlorine is now being discouraged for two reasons. First, use, transportation and storage of chlorine are hazardous activities and have resulted in many accidents. Second, use of chlorine has been shown to be detrimental to the health of people and aquatic organisms because of the formation of chlorine by-products which are toxic or are carcinogenic. As a result, there has been search for an alternative disinfectant.
A critical regional water problem is to find a disinfectant which is not only effective but safe for people who handle the system and safe for the environment. A relatively new disinfectant process which does not have the above problems associated with chlorine is the ultraviolet radiation (UV). Its primary advantages include the fact that UV radiation will inactivate all pathogens (UVC - germicidal UV), its use does not result in the formation of carcinogenic by products nor the presence of toxic residue in the treated water. Moreover, UV is generated on site and therefore excludes the dangers associated with the shipment and storage of a dangerous disinfectant. As a result of these properties, ultraviolet light technology has been called the environmentally friendly disinfectant. The effectiveness of UV technology as an effective disinfectant is based on the new lamp configuration design within the disinfection unit.
Applications
Automotive
