How UV water treatment can help you stay safe from COVID-19
COVID-19 is an infectious disease caused by a new strain of coronavirus. Research has shown that it can live in water for at least a few days.
Thankfully, water treatment facilities in the UK have processes that kill viruses during purification, and because of this, COVID-19 has not been detected in drinking water yet.
One of the most effective processes at treating water for COVID-19 is UV treatment, a process we enable with our UV water treatment range.
UV light and COVID-19
Early on in the COVID-19 pandemic, UV light was shown to deactivate the coronavirus by removing its ability to mutate, rendering it inactive.
This research showed promise for air and surface disinfection. It wasn’t long before UV light was tested in water treatment and similar positive results were found, where it enabled the rapid, effective inactivation of the COVID-19 virus.
UV light does not “sterilise” water. It “disinfects” it. It does this not by removing the coronavirus, but by removing its ability to reproduce. This renders the virus “inactive”. Inactive viruses have lost their disease-producing capacity, so they cannot make you ill.
The main type of UV used is UVC. UVC is by far the most effective wavelength for killing the coronavirus. Since it was first discovered in the 1870s, UVC light has been used for disinfection in hospitals. This radiation destroys the genetic material of viruses and bacteria, rendering them inactive and non-dangerous.
UV water treatment and COVID-19
To treat water for COVID-19 as well as other viruses, it is necessary to have a correctly-sized UV system that delivers the correct concentration of UVC.
We have a portfolio of UV systems that are suitable for any application, from treating drinking water to treating industrial water.
We supply low-pressure UV systems, low-pressure amalgam UV systems, medium-pressure UV systems and integrated UV skid packages.
The right UV system for your use case depends on the design of your existing water treatment systems. Some UV systems are more compact than others, others are inline, and others have a single lamp or multi-lamp configuration.
The benefits of UV water treatment
There are several benefits to UV water treatment, some of which are COVID-19 related while others are general benefits. These benefits include:
- Disinfects water with excellent efficiency
- Renders the COVID-19 virus harmless
- Suitable for virus and bacterial control
- Chemical-free
- Does not affect the colour or taste of water
- Removes a wide range of organic contaminants
- Compact systems available for the tightest spaces
- Medium and low-pressure systems available
- Correctly-sized systems can de-chlorinate and de-ozonate
If your water treatment facility is rethinking its approach to water treatment because of COVID-19, UV systems provide a reliable way for you to inactivate the virus and assure the purification of your water to a high standard.
You will need a correctly-sized UV system to meet your treatment capacity, and we welcome the opportunity to provide advice. Feel free to contact us today for a chat about how our UV systems can help you.