Anyone talking UV?

Yes I represent a manufacturer of UV equipment. I am very interested in participating in the education of a truly prolific science. The sanitation performance achieved by UV and the products "Green" advantages are a science you all need to be aware of. Many States are now mandating UV on interactive water features!Why UV? What is the difference in Medium and Low Pressure? What is NSF 50 and Annex H.1?UV and Cryptosporidium? Does UV corrode the pool surface? How much chlorine do you need with UV?How do you monitor UV for a residential pool!If anyone has questions or knows of active discussion groups….I would love to be involved!

You need to be a member of Pool Genius Network to add comments!

Join Pool Genius Network

Email me when people reply –

Replies

  • i just learned so much i am humbled
  • Note that all copper/silver ionization products certified with NSF Standard 50 as shown here MUST have at least 0.4 ppm chlorine or 0.8 ppm bromine. The reason is that metal ions do not kill pathogens quickly enough to prevent person-to-person transmission and in some cases not quickly enough to prevent uncontrolled growth (details shown in the table in this post). Even with UV, you absolutely positively cannot go without an EPA-approved disinfectant in a commercial/public pool so you have to have chlorine, bromine or Baquacil/biguanide/PHMB. For a residential pool, you can do anything you want.

    Though the risk is low in a residential pool, having UV and metal ions alone will not prevent some bacteria from growing on pool surfaces and not getting circulated to the UV to get killed nor will it kill fecal bacteria faster than they can get transmitted from person-to-person. Copper ions at pool concentrations won't even prevent bacterial growth for fecal bacteria or any bacteria that can survive in blood because such bacteria can readily tolerate the 0.8 to 1.1 ppm copper ion concentration found in blood serum. Silver ions do a better job in this area for bacteria though are still slow to kill and neither copper nor silver are effective against viruses or protozoan oocysts. Both can stain pool surfaces (especially plaster) unless one controls their concentration and the pH.

    Copper ions in sufficient concentration are good algicides, but are not disinfectants and neither copper nor silver on its own passes EPA DIS/TSS-12 though the combination of silver ions with MPS does pass this test but only at hot spa temperatures and is the basis for the "low chlorine" recipe of Nature2 with MPS for spas/hot tubs (but not for pools where it is not an EPA-approved disinfectant without chlorine).
  • Hi Chris,
    I have combined Low Pressure UV with ionization (copper/silver) and have had great success. I have a number of pools with that combination and I have not had to use chlorine for over a year now.
    NSF Standards has approved ionizers with copper and silver for residential use. I am not sure the Nature II has tested with NSF.
  • Chris Lightenberg said:
    Hi Jon

    I was looking for a way to build a residual of some form of sanitizer. I completely understand the difference between your UV system and Ozone generation. A Mazzie injector allows up to 99.9% of the Ozone to be dissolved into the water. My thinking was to provide the ozone as the oxidizer to destroy amonia compounds and the Nature2 to provide the residual in the main body of water, thereby completely eliminating the need for chlorine or bromine.

    Jon Laliberte said:
    Chris,

    You are still confusing Ozone with Germicidal UV. They are completely different! In your example, the Nature 2 would be over kill. And can you explain to me what a Mazzie injector is?

    Thanks!

    Chris Lightenberg said:
    Clearly UV is the future of Greening water chemistry. My question is this.... to completely eliminate Chlorine or Bromine how 'bout using ozone with a Mazzie injector combined with a Nature2 unit. This would provide both a residual algicide/anti-virus/ anti-bacterial agent along with a oxidizer, and still be cost effective to install.
  • To answer the first question - YES we are talking UV, we have installed MANY on residentual pools and a few on the commercial side and hoping to grow that side. My pool builder mgr with over 25 years experience had the best comment - "We built two pools at the same time, one without and one with UV. Both were started circulating but had not had the chlorine generators turned on, the one with the UV stayed clear of algae but the the other without turned grean in a day. I'm sold!"
    We like it!
  • Hi Jon

    I was looking for a way to build a residual of some form of sanitizer. I completely understand the difference between your UV system and Ozone generation. A Mazzie injector allows up to 99.9% of the Ozone to be dissolved into the water. My thinking was to provide the ozone as the oxidizer to destroy amonia compounds and the Nature2 to provide the residual in the main body of water, thereby completely eliminating the need for chlorine or bromine.

    Jon Laliberte said:
    Chris,

    You are still confusing Ozone with Germicidal UV. They are completely different! In your example, the Nature 2 would be over kill. And can you explain to me what a Mazzie injector is?

    Thanks!

    Chris Lightenberg said:
    Clearly UV is the future of Greening water chemistry. My question is this.... to completely eliminate Chlorine or Bromine how 'bout using ozone with a Mazzie injector combined with a Nature2 unit. This would provide both a residual algicide/anti-virus/ anti-bacterial agent along with a oxidizer, and still be cost effective to install.
  • Actually spelled Mazzei and you might also call it an educter or venturi I guess. They are installed right after a booster pump and used to infuse the Ozone gas into the water stream before it goes into the contact tank.

    Actually Nature 2 or Copper/Silver Ion would not be overkill because you do need a residual IN the pool itself. Neither Ozone nor UV will do that. It would probably be underkill because the kill rates for these systems is too slow I think. Residentially maybe, Commercially never. They could be considered a nice supplement to the chlorine perhaps. I often wonder how the extreme oxidation from Ozone would affect these products and also the probable random or maintainence doses of Sequestering agents used in Commercial Pools.
  • Chris,

    You are still confusing Ozone with Germicidal UV. They are completely different! In your example, the Nature 2 would be over kill. And can you explain to me what a Mazzie injector is?

    Thanks!

    Chris Lightenberg said:
    Clearly UV is the future of Greening water chemistry. My question is this.... to completely eliminate Chlorine or Bromine how 'bout using ozone with a Mazzie injector combined with a Nature2 unit. This would provide both a residual algicide/anti-virus/ anti-bacterial agent along with a oxidizer, and still be cost effective to install.
  • Clearly UV is the future of Greening water chemistry. My question is this.... to completely eliminate Chlorine or Bromine how 'bout using ozone with a Mazzie injector combined with a Nature2 unit. This would provide both a residual algicide/anti-virus/ anti-bacterial agent along with a oxidizer, and still be cost effective to install.
  • We've been using UV for 3 years now and other than a few tubes that were broken in shipping we have had no problems.

    Our customers really enjoy the peace of mind knowing that 99.9% of organisms that flow through the reaction chamber are rendered inactive before they flow out the other side. The ease of care is a plus. In fact it is an up-sell on opening for our service department.

    I have heard that there are studies showing organisms recovering from LP light, but I have not personally seen these studies. Jon, if you have links to those studies or other information maybe you could share?
This reply was deleted.