UV will certainly kill bacteria and viruses but not as designed into a pond UV Clarifier

Save money on pond pumps, pond filters, backyard waterfalls, fountains, ponds, water gardening, koi food and how to achieve crystal clear garden pond water too.

This is a 250 word (approx) summary of a chapter from my water gardens book For a complete list of summaries see the right hand column

Concepts:

algae, pond, quartz tube, clarifier, lamp, water, wattage, kill bacteria, forming, filter, clumping, cell, radiation, clean, watts unit.

Summary:

- Tropical Marine (TMC) company have a very good table illustrating how UV wattage requirements change with variations in these parameters.

- This tube insulates the UV lamp from the water thereby allowing the optimum lamp burn temperature of 40 degrees Centigrade to be achieved.

- Most South African manufactured units do NOT have a quartz tube inside.

- The net result is that 50% of the efficiency is lost.

- The quartz tube should be kept clean since dirt on the surface inhibits the radiation from UV light.

- When algae is exposed to UV light the cell wall is destroyed.

- Prior to clumping a single algae cell has a diameter of about 4 microns (4 millionths of a metre or very very small).

- Because algae is so small it is difficult for any filter to remove it.

- However after clumping the filter can do a good job of mechanically removing the algae.

- The algae will still tend to form so long as the conditions suit them.

- However if the wattage of the UV clarifier is too low then the water will remain green for the reason that the algae are forming more quickly than they can be killed.

- If you install an UV in a pond whose water is already green then it will take some days to clear depending on wattage of the unit.

- Also be aware that the quartz tube may well get fouled up with green algae seriously reducing the radiation.

- UV will certainly kill bacteria and viruses but not as designed into a pond UV Clarifier.