Ultraviolet Disinfection:

Ultraviolet (UV) disinfection systems destroy biological contamination that can be found in your water. They do this by passing a high energy UV light wave through the water to penetrate and destroy the harmful organisms, disinfecting the water.

Typical residential applications use a 7 or 8 gallon per minute unit, and larger residential applications (or customers that desire an extra margin of safety) use a 12 or 15 gallon per minute unit.

The ATS model DWS unit is available standard (model DWS) with no alarm function. The ATS model SE is available with an integral lamp on/off alarm and contacts for a solenoid valve shut-off (model SE). This means in the case of a lamp failure (burn out) an audible and visible alarm sounds, and the contacts are activated to shut off an externally mounted solenoid valve. The solenoid valve is also available on our web page, and listed with the ATS ultraviolet systems.

The Sterilight system is available in its standard "PA" configuration with an on-board audible and visible lamp failure alarm. The Platinum and NSF certified models include a built in UV light intensity meter that measures lamp intensity in addition to the on/off lamp failure alarm. UV lamps do not just "burn-out" like a normal light bulb - they lose intensity over time - and will reach a level where the intensity is not sufficient to provide complete sterilization. The intensity meter will notify you in advance when a lamp is soon in need of changing. Without the intensity meter, we recommend that you replace the UV lamp on an annual basis to be safe. Both Platinum and NSF units can be used with a solenoid valve and connection cable that will shut off the water supply in the event of an alarm condition.

We also recommend that you install a cartridge filter upstream of the UV system to remove any sediment that may be in your water. Some commercial quality (low pressure drop) units can be found on our Cartridge Filter page. The filter housing also provides a convenient place to add household chlorine bleach (used when you are installing the UV system to initially sterilize the plumbing in your home, directions included in the installation manuals). It is also a good idea to make sure that your water does not exceed the contamination levels listed below when using UV. If any of these levels are exceeded, you can still use a UV systems with frequent cleaning, but you may want to consider incorporating other equipment like a water softener or filter system to first improve the quality of your water.

Total Iron - Less than 0.3 ppm
Hardness - Less than 7 grains per gallon (120 ppm)