How Good Are Ultra Violet Water Purification Systems?
Ultra violet water purification systems (UV) are one of the four main ways we have of purifying water at home. The other three are distillers, reverse osmosis systems, and carbon/ceramic filters. There are some big differences between UV and these other three types of system, however. You need to know about and understand these differences in order to decide if UV is the right technology for you.
Distillers, reverse osmosis systems, and carbon/ceramic filters all remove the hazardous impurities from you water. Ultra violet water purification systems do not. All UV can really do is kill living organisms, which it does by disrupting their DNA. UV does this quite efficiently, too! The big difference between it and these other methods of water purification is that UV does not strain contaminants out of water. Once exposure to UV has killed whatever microorganisms there are in your water, it leaves them in the water. Unless, that is, the UV system is coupled with some other filter, like carbon/ceramic.
So, UV is great for killing living contaminants, it’s just not going to do anything about removing their remains. That might be okay in and of itself, but there’s the related issue of what other non-living stuff you have in your water that you don’t want to drink and that the UV is not removing.
I don’t know if you’re on public water or well water, but the hazards you’re facing are similar. It’s quite possible that you have everything from pesticides to prescription drugs in your water. Ultra violet water purification systems can do nothing to remove these contaminants. To my mind, that’s a big drawback of UV.
But there is a solution!
Distillers, reverse osmosis systems, and carbon/ceramic type filters are all very good at removing non-living contaminants, and they’re also good at removing bacteria, viruses, and other microorganisms. In other words, these three systems are capable of dealing with a much broader spectrum of contaminant than UV is.
Distillers are more expensive than UV, and they shouldn’t be used on chlorinated water. Reverse osmosis systems are not nearly as expensive as distillers are, but reverse osmosis demineralizes water, which means it removes the trace minerals that are so important to our health.
Perhaps my favorite system, both from an efficiency and money point of view, is carbon and ceramic filters. Usually, these are used in two-step filters that can purify your water as well as a distiller can. These filters are easy to maintain. All you need to do is to change a cartridge every now and then.
Unless you’re absolutely certain your water is free from non-living contaminants, ultra violet water purification systems might not be the best for you. Any of these three other types of systems quite possibly could do a superior job.
By: R. Lee Cole
About the Author:
To learn more about home water purifiers, visit my website!
R. Lee Cole is an avid health and exercise enthusiast who loves to make his research available to everyone via the Internet. Check out Lee’s website for more information about this important topic.