With longstanding concerns around the impacts of chlorination and its byproducts on human and ecological health, UV disinfection is becoming an increasingly favourable way of treating water. Its methods are not only effective, efficient and environmentally sustainable, but cost-competitive as well.

In collaboration with engineers from UV Pure Technologies, a premier manufacturer of advanced ultraviolent water disinfection systems, our CAWT researchers helped validate a new line of water purification systems that use dual-lamp elliptical reflector technology to treat large volumes of “difficult” water. We set up equipment to test four systems—small, medium, large, and extra-large—which allowed for the development of algorithms for UV dose and UV transmittance predictions. An internal controller with a user-friendly, touchscreen interface was designed into the technology. While we labored on these aspects, our research partners at Queen’s University worked to hone the lamp’s automatic quartz sleeve wiper mechanism. These combined efforts led to finished prototypes that became the company’s third-generation Crossfire Technology® product line. When tested at our research facilities, both EPA and NWRI validations were achieved for drinking, reuse and wastewater applications.

The system we helped develop provides 2.4 times more effectiveness than conventional UV purification technologies. For one, the dual-lamp design delivers concentrated radiation, reducing energy typically lost as heat, as well as zaps pathogens potentially missed by single-light systems. Additionally, the quartz sleeve that protects the lamps from water, easily fouled by particulate and biofilm, is self-cleaning, which eliminates the need for routine maintenance and helps to prevent false alarms. Finally, the integration of advanced electronics, smart sensors and software into the system allows for Crossfire’s® decentralized management and provides a base for data analytics, making its deployment in large scale operations possible.

UV Pure Technologies has completed more than 18,000 installations to date—a figure that will inevitably grow as their new globally-validated product line continues to answer market demands worldwide.