Recently a story has been published in Environmental Science and Technology. According to this story, UV light can’t completely disinfect the germs and microbes in the water. Anyhow, UV light can kill some microbes from the water. The UV light can kill these microbes from the water without the introduction of the harmful chemicals in the drinking water. The water purification method with the help of UV light may drive it into dormancy. It means that there are some changes in the receiving of the harmful microbes after the purification of the water. Therefore, we can say that we can’t use UV light for the killing of all the germs in the water and other substances.
In the US and Canada, the water purification is done on a large scale. For this reason, they use two techniques. First of all, they disinfect the germs in the water by using the technique of chlorination. After disinfecting the germs in the water with the help of chlorination, they use UV light as a second measure to kill the germs in the water. On the other hand, other countries are doing purification of the water on a small scale.
For this reason, they only use the technique of UV light to kill germs in the water. Now, the problem with this method is that UV light only damages the bacterial DNA. It means that it can block the replication of the bacteria and germs in the water but it can’t disrupt their cell membranes. The other water purification techniques like chlorination can also disrupt the cell membranes of the bacteria and other germs.
Different scientists have researched the risks of water purification by UV light only. After conducting research, they have shared the results of their research. Here, we share the results of the research of the Chinese environmental engineer along with his team. According to him, by using the UV light, we can only reduce the colonies of the germs up to 0.0001%. Anyhow, this light will not make any change in the ribosomal gene of the bacteria. It means that bacteria can still synthesize the proteins. That’s why he has asked that to kill germs by using UV light is harmful to us.
The results of another research by a dissertation help firms are showing that UV light can destroy the molecular bonds of the viruses and bacteria. These molecular bonds are holding together the DNA of these viruses and bacteria. Therefore, it is a good option for us to use UV light for killing the germs in the water and other substances. At the home-based, we can easily use the UV light to kill germs and bacteria in the water. We are not only using UV light to kill germs in the water and substances only but we are also using UV light to kill germs from other things too. We can also say that UV light is highly effective in killing germs.
There are three main types of UV light. These three main types of UV light are UVA, UVB, and UVC. UVC has the shortest wavelength and it has the highest energy, therefore, it is capable of killing germs and bacteria from the water. That’s why we also call it pathogen.
The wavelength of the UVC light is 200 to 400 nanometers. This light is highly effective at the decontamination. Its reason is that this light can easily destroy the molecular bonds of the bacteria and viruses that are present in the water. These molecular bonds hold together the DNA of the viruses and bacteria.
When they hold together the DNA of viruses and bacteria, they develop a stronger resistance to the antibiotics. This method of killing the germs from the water and other substances is known as ultraviolet germicidal irradiation.
UV light is electromagnetic radiation. Its wavelength is shorter than visible light and longer than X-rays. UV light is also available in different wavelength ranges. The shortest wavelength range of the UV is UVC. That’s why it is also known as germicidal UV.
When you use this light for the purification of the water, this light can become a cause of pyrimidine dimers. The most important benefit of this UV light is that it can prevent the replication of the necessary proteins in the germs and bacteria. When it prevents the replication of the necessary proteins in the bacteria and germs, these germs will die or these germs can become the cause of the inactivation of the organism.
Now, we discuss the effectiveness of the UV light for the killing of germs and bacteria. Its effectiveness depends upon many factors. First of all, it depends upon the length of the time that you have provided to a microorganism for the exposure of the UV light. If you have provided more time, its effectiveness will be higher. On the other hand, if you have provided less time, its effectiveness will be lower.
Secondly, it depends upon the intensity and wavelength of the UV light. The shorter wavelength UV light is more effective than longer wavelength UV light. Thirdly, its effectiveness also depends upon the ability of the microorganisms to withstand during the exposure of the UV light.
For the disinfection of the water, you can increase the effectiveness of the UV light by taking care of some essential factors. First of all, you should consider the flow rate. It means that you should increase the contact time between the UV light and water. Secondly, you should consider the transmittance.
It means that you should take an overview of the light that is reaching the target. If a huge amount of light is reaching the target, its effectiveness will be increased. It a small light is reaching the target, its effectiveness will be decreased. Thirdly, it also depends upon the turbidity. It means that it depends upon the cloudiness. At last, it also depends upon the reduction in the intensity of the UV. If you optimize all the factors, you can easily increase the effectiveness of the UV light while killing the germs and bacteria.
