UV sterilizers

[cchhcc]

I like Bud8Fan's original response........ Short and sweet.

There are lots of concerns that are unfounded. UV's are used in many different ways... all with harmless results. Technically speaking there is truth in most of the concerns. In actual practice, they aren't anything to worry about.

I will always have a UV component to any system I operate.

 

[ctoychik]

Oooooooo, a UV thread finally. May i jump in and ask: is there a difference between UV sterilizor and pond clarifier? Or is it just a marketing gimmick to differentiate?

I too have a UV pond clarifier (under my deck) cos i do not quite dare to use it yet, for the same original concern. The by-pass thing seem to make sence

 

[cchhcc]

Don't worry about a bypass at all........ There are thousands (millions) of UV uses without a bypass and no issues.....

A clarified and a sterilizer are basically the same thing. The difference is in the effectiveness or power of the setup (baiscally determined by wattage, flow rate, and dwell time).

A "clarifier" generally is intended to kill free floating algae in outdoor ponds where algae would otherwise turn the water into pea soup due to direct sunlight exposure.

A "sterilizer" is a more powerful unit or configuration that is intended to kill harmful bacteria or parasites.

Both are perfectly safe in normal use.

 

[justin guest]

Don't worry about a bypass at all........ There are thousands (millions) of UV uses without a bypass and no issues.....

Where did you source this information?

A clarified and a sterilizer are basically the same thing. The difference is in the effectiveness or power of the setup (baiscally determined by wattage, flow rate, and dwell time).

The only difference is the recommended flow rate. A 110 watt ´pond clarifier´ for instance becomes a sterilizer when the flow rate is dropped.

Both are perfectly safe in normal use.

If the water isn´t flowing don´t look directly at the lamp to see if the sterilizer is on. The manufactures have to build in safety contacts into the units but if a safety contact isn´t working properly then there may be a danger
j<><

 

[cchhcc]

Dude.... relax..... You just overstating the risks and picking apart my statement when it was perfectly useful for the guy's needs.

I don't want to get into the habit of justifying everything I post, so why don't you just contact all the pond filter manufacturers that build UV's into their filtration units with no bypass for your answer..............

 

[justin guest]

Dude.... relax..... You just overstating the risks and picking apart my statement when it was perfectly useful for the guy's needs.

I don't want to get into the habit of justifying everything I post, so why don't you just contact all the pond filter manufacturers that build UV's into their filtration units with no bypass for your answer..............

I´ve built and sold hundreds of pond and aquarium filter systems over the years and the ones that work the best always have the UV in a bypass. I´ve also talked to biologists and technicians from some of the companies who sell such systems and some of them unfortunately don´t know that much about UV. Some companies are just copying concepts from other companies. This would explain why there are some systems without a UV bypass. Maybe this clears things up for you why a UV bypass may be a better solution
j<><

 

[skillzdatkillz]

what does it mean to run the uv in a bypass?

 

[justin guest]

what does it mean to run the uv in a bypass?

If you put a UV lamp in the return line of the filter pump, optimally some of the water needs to be pumped through the UV lamp and some should be pumped back into the tank without going through the UV lamp. This is usually done by splitting the return line in 2 using a T piece before the UV lamp, then merging the two lines again after the UV but before returning the water to the tank.
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[skillzdatkillz]

would running a uv from a sump with a seperate powerhead give the same effect?

 

[justin guest]

would running a uv from a sump with a seperate powerhead give the same effect?

Yes.
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