What sort of maintenance does a whole house UV treatment unit need? This
is the type that comprises a sealed stainless steel tube about 1.5m long
within which there is UV fluorescent light? Does the UV light need to be
replaced regularly (in fact, short of doing a water quality test, I
guess I don't know that it is actually working!)
thanks
tony

In article ,
Tony wrote:
What sort of maintenance does a whole house UV treatment unit need? This
is the type that comprises a sealed stainless steel tube about 1.5m long
within which there is UV fluorescent light? Does the UV light need to be
replaced regularly (in fact, short of doing a water quality test, I
guess I don't know that it is actually working!)

Assuming it's a fluorescent tube, these have a life of about 3000 hours -
although the efficiency drops off somewhat before they actually fail
totally. Isn't there some form of inspection window?

What's this device for? Can't see the sort of concentrations of UV you'd
get with this having much effect on flowing water.

--
*Work is for people who don't know how to fish.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
Tony wrote:

What sort of maintenance does a whole house UV treatment unit need? This
is the type that comprises a sealed stainless steel tube about 1.5m long
within which there is UV fluorescent light? Does the UV light need to be
replaced regularly (in fact, short of doing a water quality test, I
guess I don't know that it is actually working!)


Assuming it's a fluorescent tube, these have a life of about 3000 hours -
although the efficiency drops off somewhat before they actually fail
totally. Isn't there some form of inspection window?

No, its totally sealed.

What's this device for? Can't see the sort of concentrations of UV you'd
get with this having much effect on flowing water.

Its for whole house water purification - water comes in from a borehole
via a header tank up the hillside, through a sediment filter, through
the UV unit and then in to the domestic system. The installation was
put in just before we bought the house last year because the statutory
water test the council do failed (before then there'd been no
treatment). I don't know who put the unit in.

It sounds like you and Grunff don't think its up to much??

In article ,
Tony wrote:
What's this device for? Can't see the sort of concentrations of UV you'd
get with this having much effect on flowing water.

Its for whole house water purification - water comes in from a borehole
via a header tank up the hillside, through a sediment filter, through
the UV unit and then in to the domestic system. The installation was
put in just before we bought the house last year because the statutory
water test the council do failed (before then there'd been no
treatment). I don't know who put the unit in.

Right. As part of a comprehensive filtration system I'm sure it's all been
worked out.

It sounds like you and Grunff don't think its up to much??

It's just that on its own, it sounded a bit like those magnetic water
'conditioners'.

--
Is the hardness of the butter proportional to the softness of the bread?*

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

Tony wrote:

What sort of maintenance does a whole house UV treatment unit need? This
is the type that comprises a sealed stainless steel tube about 1.5m long
within which there is UV fluorescent light? Does the UV light need to be
replaced regularly (in fact, short of doing a water quality test, I
guess I don't know that it is actually working!)
thanks

We have one as part of an 8 stage water treatment system. They are
pretty worthless on their own.

--
Grunff

"Tony" wrote in message
...

What sort of maintenance does a whole house UV treatment unit need? This
is the type that comprises a sealed stainless steel tube about 1.5m long
within which there is UV fluorescent light? Does the UV light need to be
replaced regularly (in fact, short of doing a water quality test, I
guess I don't know that it is actually working!)


We have one. The tube isn't usually sealed - the end caps unscrew and the
tube slides out. And in darkness you can see some violet light leaking out.

Change the tube once a year to keep the UV threshold high enough to kill the
bacteria.

"G&M" wrote in message ...
"Tony" wrote in message
...

What sort of maintenance does a whole house UV treatment unit need? This
is the type that comprises a sealed stainless steel tube about 1.5m long
within which there is UV fluorescent light? Does the UV light need to be
replaced regularly (in fact, short of doing a water quality test, I
guess I don't know that it is actually working!)


We have one. The tube isn't usually sealed - the end caps unscrew and the
tube slides out. And in darkness you can see some violet light leaking out.

Change the tube once a year to keep the UV threshold high enough to kill the
bacteria.

Precisely.
I was also told to change the filter element ever 3 months (even if
pressure was OK) to absolutely ensure that the water was being
efficiently filtered as even tiny amounts of solid matter can impair
the action of the UV light.

Also, mine has never been tested - as we are the only home using the
water supply, the local environmental health dept aren't concerned
about it. Did yours ever retest or were they happy with the setup that
was installed?

Alan.

"Alan Campbell" wrote in message
om...
"G&M" wrote in message
...
"Tony" wrote in message
...

What sort of maintenance does a whole house UV treatment unit need?
This
is the type that comprises a sealed stainless steel tube about 1.5m
long
within which there is UV fluorescent light? Does the UV light need to
be
replaced regularly (in fact, short of doing a water quality test, I
guess I don't know that it is actually working!)


We have one. The tube isn't usually sealed - the end caps unscrew and
the
tube slides out. And in darkness you can see some violet light leaking
out.

Change the tube once a year to keep the UV threshold high enough to kill
the
bacteria.

Precisely.
I was also told to change the filter element ever 3 months (even if
pressure was OK) to absolutely ensure that the water was being
efficiently filtered as even tiny amounts of solid matter can impair
the action of the UV light.

Also, mine has never been tested - as we are the only home using the
water supply, the local environmental health dept aren't concerned
about it. Did yours ever retest or were they happy with the setup that
was installed?


Agreed one can never filter enough - we now have a 10 micron filter followed
by a 0.5 micron filter feeding into the 600 gallon tank. These are changed
6 monthly.

I've asked the council guy to wait a couple of months before retesting as
I'm waiting for some metallic traces to flush out of the system fully. I'll
let you know what he finds. Just because you are the only house on the
supply (everybody has their own supply round here) doesn't mean the council
don't have to test it.

"G&M" wrote in message
snipped
Agreed one can never filter enough - we now have a 10 micron filter followed
by a 0.5 micron filter feeding into the 600 gallon tank. These are changed
6 monthly.

I've asked the council guy to wait a couple of months before retesting as
I'm waiting for some metallic traces to flush out of the system fully. I'll
let you know what he finds. Just because you are the only house on the
supply (everybody has their own supply round here) doesn't mean the council
don't have to test it.

I'm no expert and I don't know your setup but do you particle and then
UV filter the water from the 600 gallon tank before using it for
drinking/cooking?.

I heard that water can't be filtered then stored and then safely used
without being filtered again.

Our water is stored unfiltered in a tank at the spring where it comes
from and is only filtered when it gets into the house. All the cold
water sink taps are fed directly from the filter and we have another
tank in the loft which is used for everything we don't drink/cook
with. This is filtered but is necessary because the filter is only
good for 21l/min IIRC so wouldn't supply our peak demand.

We also run the water for a short while before using it to ensure it
has just been filtered.

I might give the guy from the council a call. Part of his problem is
that we are an hour away from his lab and he must test the water
within an hour of the sample being taken which makes it tricky for
him. Not that I am too bothered. The previous occupants lived here for
over 50 years without any filtering and both lived well into their
80's - in fact, one of them may still be alive so it can't be that
bad. I guess you are in a similar position.

Alan.

"Alan Campbell" wrote in message
m...
"G&M" wrote in message
snipped
Agreed one can never filter enough - we now have a 10 micron filter
followed
by a 0.5 micron filter feeding into the 600 gallon tank. These are
changed
6 monthly.

I've asked the council guy to wait a couple of months before retesting
as
I'm waiting for some metallic traces to flush out of the system fully.
I'll
let you know what he finds. Just because you are the only house on the
supply (everybody has their own supply round here) doesn't mean the
council
don't have to test it.

I'm no expert and I don't know your setup but do you particle and then
UV filter the water from the 600 gallon tank before using it for
drinking/cooking?.



Spring - 10 micron filter - 0.5 micron filter - tank

tank - pump - UV filter - main water taps and to 2 micron filter for
drinking/cooking

Input filters are to ensure stuff in tank is clean enough for no sediment
and for UV filter to work properly, whilst we found the final filter still
improves the taste and will test why soon.




I heard that water can't be filtered then stored and then safely used
without being filtered again.

The input filters are to remove sediment, nitrates and metals. Once removed
these can't re-appear but of course any tank of water can get bacterial
contamination and so this must be dealt with after storage.

If you don't input filter, the inside of the tank can get stained with
metals or nitrates, depending of course on what your water is like to start
with. Ours has huge amounts of manganese and nitrates, plus iron, lead and
nitrites.

So much for 'pure mountain springs' :-)

Alan Campbell wrote:

Also, mine has never been tested - as we are the only home using the
water supply, the local environmental health dept aren't concerned
about it. Did yours ever retest or were they happy with the setup that
was installed?

Alan.

It wasn't retested and they never checked the setup that was installed -
but I keep expecting a knock on the door!

thanks for all the answers
t