Question:

we have had our well water here test positive for coliform bacteria more then once so we decided to have a whole-house ultraviolet water purification system installed by Rainsoft.. This was after i heard all the bad things about rainsoft.. I honestly think all these water purification installers are crooks.. The guy had to come back to my house 3 times because the pipes were still leaking.. I asked the guy about his past and he said he never even went to school to learn this.. What kind of friggin people are these guys hiring?

But i would like to know is this system really effective in killing all the bacteria in the water? The water seems to move through it pretty fast.. Also, i was doing a google search on this and a science teacher brought up the fact that this type of ultraviolet on water could possibly cause cancer in humans.. Is there any proof of this? I was pretty piszed when i read about that.. Our government will probably tell us 20 years from now that it causes cancer..

Answer:

The UV generated by your water purification unit is what's called short wavelength or germicidal UV and it's very fast and effective at killing viruses, bacteria and other nasties. If the unit is sized for your water system and operating properly, it will work and the manufacturer's literature or web site should tell you if you have the right unit for your application. To be absolutely sure, sample the incoming and output water and have it tested.

Short wavelength UV can damage skin and eyes so you should not expose yourself to UV radiation from the lamp. An automatic shut-off switch is usually part of the unit so the UV lamp will not operate if the unit is open. The purification device should also have safety glass in the inspection port so the UV is kept inside the unit. Usually, some visible blue light can be seen through the glass, but the harmful UV is filtered out.

Short wavelength UV is associated with skin cancer. If you expose your skin to the UV from sunshine or certain electric light sources over time and particularly if you have had severe sunburns when you were young, your chances of skin cancer go up. But your UV water purification unit does not expose you to UV and nothing is done to the water as it goes through the unit that would make the water cause cancer.

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