Using ultraviolet radiation

Description

Using ultraviolet radiation involves applying UV light to disinfect air, water, and surfaces by inactivating or destroying microorganisms such as bacteria, viruses, and fungi. This strategy is essential for sterilization in medical, laboratory, and public settings, reducing the spread of infectious diseases. It provides a chemical-free remedy for contamination, supports safe water and food supplies, and helps control outbreaks by targeting pathogens resistant to conventional cleaning or chemical treatments.

Implementation

Ultraviolet (UV) light from the sun kills microbial DNA and in some countries huge lagoons have been constructed as a natural means of purifying water and treating effluent from sewage systems. Adopting the same principle, Jersey has installed a UV irradiation plant, consisting of nine banks of 144 lamps suspending in the effluent flow at a sewage treatment works near St Helier. Only a very small dose of UV light is needed, and the radiation treats a maximum flow of 1000 litres a second, killing 99.99% of faecal microbes, preserving the safety of bathers on the coastline without damaging island marine life with conventional chlorine or other chemical disinfectants.