UV sterilizer for water storage barrel???

[jimg]

thanks for this! I ought to consider a whole-house system, just for peace of mind in regards to drinking water/cooking/etc. my "water works guy" is here today installing another filter (we have a lot of sediment from the well water), so I'll get a quote......he said <$1k. we'll see.

I wouldn't do it for well water. unless your in a small community with septic systems all over.
I did it because my water comes from reservoirs with fish in them. chlorine is not strong enough in municipal water to kill everything.

[Discus Origins]

If you really want to run UV in the storage barrel (can't do anything negative to the water) and don't mind the extra $$, you can buy 9W UV units that will handle up to 60 gallons for around $40. Cool little package all you gotta do it plug it in and it runs.

[Cevoe]

I saw those 9W units for sale all over the place.
After all this talking and typing about them I went looking at the unit Francis posted and almost pooped my drawers when I saw the price.
I might be heading back into an old oil drum and a hand crank pump now.

[boscobear]

I called that supplier, or manufacturer of UV equipment , Aqua . They told me for a 125 gallon freshwater aquarium anything more than 9 watts is not necessary. I was going to use their 15 watt unit, and they said it was not needed. Saltwater needs a higher wattage, a 120 watt unit would be used in a swimming pool, or a large pond, but not a home aquarium.

[Vince C]

You might want to consider using ozone in lieu of UV. I picked up a unit on Ebay - search for Ozotech, occasionally they appear there. Ozotech has a good reputation that's why I went with one of there units.

Vince

[shoveltrash]

interesting Vince.....how does it work? (sorry, I know nothing about ozone units!)

[Vince C]

Ozone(O3) contains three oxygen atoms and is very unstable so it breaks down to O2 & O. The single oxygen atom(O) is very reactive and is a powerful oxidizing agent, is toxic and attacks the respiratory systems of animals & microorganisms. Thus it will kill bacteria, pathogens, and viruses. It has a sharp smell resembling chlorine bleach. Ozone can also remove small amounts of manganese & iron by precipitating them out of solution.

The unit itself comes with a 120V cord/plug and has two air ports: an input and output. Since contact time with storage water is important, the output ozone is usually run through 1 or 2 aerators or even a reactor(if you can afford it). I run mine through 2 airstones for 2-3 hrs into a 55 gal drum which then gets dumped into 4 other drums for further aeration and storage.

The ozone treated water only has to sit for an hour to let the ozone decay/dissipate because its so unstable.

Also, I had to use a pond air pump to overcome the barrels head pressure and the head pressure of the ozone generator since my linear air pump wouldn't pump air that deep.

Sorry for so lengthy of a response.

Vince

[shoveltrash]

don't apologize Vince! thanks so much for the info
fascinating.......and *almost* over my head LOL! altho I've read that pp is an oxidizing agent too - so these would do the same things if I'm thinking correct.

[ri3eboi]

Does anyone have experiences to share on their journey to reduce potential pathogen growth in their aging water barrel?

I just ordered a 13W submersible UV light for $13 and plan to drop it in my 55 gallon food grade barrel converted to an aging water barrel and been in use for over a year now. I never cleaned the barrel, but it is surprisingly clean, probably because the water is constantly flowing through it with my daily auto water changer.