Chemistry of Water

It is important to consider the chemistry of the water you wish to treat as anything in the water
can have an effect on the act of disinfection. This is true for any type of disinfection, whether it
be chemical or physical. This does not need to be difficult as only the simplest of compounds are
required to be known before going ahead with the installation of a disinfection system,
specifically a UV disinfection system.
There are 9 different compounds that need to be considered when trying to determine the
appropriate water treatment equipment. Unfortunately getting rid of microorganisms is not as
simple as installing a UV system. In most cases the water must be treated for the removal of
other compounds before the UV equipment can be effective. The compounds to be considered
are pH, hardness, iron, manganese, the presence of any gases, turbidity, dissolved solids, tannins
and UV transmittance.

pH
pH is not a major concern as most water supplies that are being used for drinking water have a
fairly neutral pH level. pH is the presence of hydrogen ions in the water. The pH scale goes from
0 to 14 with the higher the pH level the more basic the water and the lower the pH level the more
acidic it is. The most optimum pH level is one that is neutral which would be 7 - 8. Keep in mind
that if you test your water one year and the pH level is found to be 8 and then the next year the
result you receive is 9 you will need to be relatively concerned as each jump in pH represents a
10x increase or decrease in pH. Therefore your water is now 10x more basic than it was the year
before. You will need to ask the question why? Is something getting into my water supply? Is my
water treatment equipment functioning as it should? Basically pH is an indicator that something
is changing chemically in your water supply.

When it comes to the function of your UV system we need to be concerned with the pH level as
low pH's can cause damage to the stainless steel reactor of the system. Water with a pH falling
below 6 can actually begin to cause pitting of the steel which will eventually cause the reactor to
leak. pH can also come into play when considering other forms of water treatment like water
softening or tannin removal.
Top^

Hardness
Hardness is something to be concerned with when you are looking to treat groundwater (well
water). Let's look at where hardness comes from and what it is.
As rain falls from the sky it passes through the atmosphere absorbing gases as it falls,
specifically carbon dioxide. This causes the rain water to become slightly acidic. As the water
reaches the earth it will run into the ground falling deeper into the earth. As the acidic water is
being absorbed into the ground it is picking up something from everything it touches so when the
water comes across limestone in the earth it will absorb some of this limestone causing the water
to contain dissolved solids of calcium and magnesium bicarbonates. This water reaches our wells
and is drawn into our homes via pump. When the water comes in contact with heat (say in a
water heater and/or UV system) a chemical reaction occurs causing the limestone to fall out of
solution causing scale to form on all surfaces. This scaling is a cloudy white colour. To remove
hardness from water an ion exchange system needs to be used to remove the calcium and
magnesium from the water and replace those ions with sodium. This is how a water softener
works.

Hardness is a great concern when considering a UV system as water within a UV reactor will
become heated when the water is not being used in the home (which is 70% of the time in most
homes). When the hard water heats up the limestone will begin to scale on the walls of the
stainless steel reactor as well as on the quartz sleeve which surrounds the lamp. This layer of
scaling will block the UV from the water therefore being ineffective against pathogenic microorganisms.
UV manufacturers recommend that hardness be removed from water at levels greater than 7 gpg
(grains per gallon) or 120 mg/L (ppm).

Iron & Manganese Concentration

Iron and manganese are absorbed into water the same as hardness. They are both dissolved away
by acidic rain running into the ground and then travel through the ground as a dissolved solid.
This water reaches our wells and is pulled into our homes for use causing the water to be
exposed to air. Iron and Manganese can also be found in soft water, but it is more prevalent in
hard water. As soon as dissolved iron and manganese are exposed to oxygen they will precipitate
out of solution causing scaling. Iron scaling is an orange colour whereas manganese scaling is a
blackish grey colour. Both will cause discoloration of the quartz sleeve in a UV reactor blocking
the light from reaching the water.

UV manufacturers recommend that iron be removed from water at levels greater than 0.3 mg/L
(ppm) and manganese at levels greater than 0.05 mg/L (ppm). The higher the concentrations of
either of these compounds are the more severe and rapid the scaling will be.

Presence of Gases
All water will have some level of gases in it but at exceeded concentrations gases can cause
sensor problems with UV systems. Different gases will require different levels to see an effect
but if you do have a water supply where you know there is a presence of things such as radon gas
for example, it would be wise to discuss this with the manufacturer.

Hydrogen sulphide is a gas which causes a strong rotten egg odour and at exceeded levels can
cause black staining of fixtures and UV components (quartz sleeve). Gas concentrations will
change over the course of the year as the barometric pressure does change causing fluctuations in
how much gas is being forced out of the ground.

Turbidity
Have you ever filled a glass with water from the faucet and saw tiny white flakes floating in your
cup? That's turbidity. Turbidity is the small solid particles that are present in water that can be
removed by filtration. Turbidity can cause problems in both chemical and physical types of
disinfection as these small particles can interfere with either the chemicals being used or the
ability of the physical disinfection to be effective.

Consider physical disinfection using a UV system. Now think about if you've ever actually seen
a floating particle in water. Chances are that you have. Have you ever seen an E.coli swimming
around? The answer would be no unless you were looking through a high powered microscope.
If you consider both of the above questions just imagine how much E.coli can attach themselves
to one tiny piece of turbidity which will help shield them from the UV light. This is why is it so
important that customers always install a 5 micron filter prior to the UV system to ensure that no
microorganisms can leak through the system and contaminant the water supply.
Top^

Tannins
Tannins are natural organic matter that are the byproducts of nature's fermentation process. They
are created as water flows through large quantities of decaying vegetation or peaty soil. This
process will cause the water to have a faint yellow tea-like colour and can cause staining on
fabrics, fixtures, china and laundry. Tannins may give a tangy or tart aftertaste to water and may

cause the water to have an earthy or musty smell. Tannins, also known as fulvic or humic acids
are more common in surface waters and shallow wells than in deep water wells. Waters in
marshy, low-lying, or coastal areas is also more susceptible to tannins.

Tannins are considered aesthetic problems in drinking water as although they do discolour the
water, they present no health hazard. However, when using ultraviolet technologies, tannins can
present a major issue to the functionality of a UV system.
Tannins create a light yellow to dark brown discolouration in the water. Although a local lab can
test for the actual quantity of tannins in the water, an easy homeowner test is to draw a glass of
water in a clear glass and let it stand overnight. If the colour settles to the bottom of the glass, the
discolouration is likely caused by iron and/or manganese in the water whereas if the water
remains discoloured, the likely cause is tannins in the water. Tannin levels should be less than 0.1
mg/L (0.1 ppm) when using an ultraviolet system.
Tannins can be removed from the water supply using an organic scavenging anion exchange
resin. As the anion resin is sensitive to hardness, it is recommended to include a water softener as
a pretreatment step prior to the tannin reduction system.

UVT
UV transmittance or simply UVT describes the measurement of a fluids ability to transmit UV
light. Typically, municipal water supplies have UVT levels of greater than 95%, whereas deep
water wells typically have UVT levels around 85%. The UVT of surface waters can vary greatly
depending on the source and surrounding geography. UVT can be easily tested with a
spectrophotometer which most laboratories or UV manufacturers have. Waters with lower UVT's
will require more UV energy to deliver a similar UV dose than waters with a higher UVT.
LUMINOR systems are tested at a 95% UVT level and their rated flow is based on the waters
having a minimum UVT level of 95%. If your water has a lower UVT, the system will deliver a
lower UVT dose, or the flow rate through the system will need to be decreased to achieve the
same UV dose. Dosage curves are available for all LUMINOR systems to aid in this selection.

As a precaution, it is recommended that all water treated by a UV system have a minimum UVT
level of 75%.