Uv sterilization
- Thread starter Phat J
- Start date
Airwalker16
Well-Known Member
It's crossed all of our minds. But the problem is that imo, the potential to cause issues with the nutrients being ran over germicidal UVC type light
Phat J
Well-Known Member
I have had water issues since I moved my setup to its final destination which is on a well. I have a big blue triple filter system installed after the pressure tank. First a 50 micron, charcoal, and lastly a carbon block filter @ .5 micron. Then through a water softener, then to the house. The water in grow room then goes to a RO system. Which comes out at 0 ppm and ph of 7.0. (God I would hope so!) Even at that reading sometimes the water has an odor. Phuckin crazy! Therefore I am getting a whole home UV filter and installing it after my water softener. This is what got me going on uv sterilization. Idk after all I have spent to get shit right, for $100 I may try it just to see. God knows I have pissed away alot more than that in this venture. Lol. Im just shocked, with all the super smart people here that nobody has tried it or can some of you chemists help us out, shed light on the subject?
Airwalker16
Well-Known Member
Germocidal UVC is a wonderful idea before adding anything to it as another measure to clean up your water. I'm sure you'll see better results from it. As long as you get the right equipment. A whole Lotta fake ass shit out there. Be sure when you're buying something the specs say the bulb emits 285nm and lower. Closer to 270nm is where you wanna be. It does go much further though towards 230-240ish
Phat J
Well-Known Member
Thanks so much for your advice
Mikenike
Well-Known Member
Heisenbean over on chuckersparadise did a no chiller rdwc run and did great. He added a UVC sterilizer to his RO water and ran his system sterile with no issues. He praises the UVC for his success since he’s been battling root rot for a couple years. With/without chiller and sterile/beneficial bacteria. I think his water temp was in the 80’s
I’ve got one on my RO filter as well and it’s a nice added layer. Although I’ve never had issues with root rot when I didn’t have it either. (Knock on wood)
I’ve got one on my RO filter as well and it’s a nice added layer. Although I’ve never had issues with root rot when I didn’t have it either. (Knock on wood)
Nizza
Well-Known Member
The uv filters rely on the light being output through a glass quartz sleeve so if that gets dirty your efficiency goes down for sterilizing. The nutrient in the reservoir could possibly fog up the water and glass fast making the uv filter need constant cleaning.
I think for well water before you introduce it to the dwc system is perfect, you will kill off the bacteria left over from the filters and well water has lots of bacteria.
I personally would just use the UV filter for the water going into the system but not to be run in-line with the setup
I think for well water before you introduce it to the dwc system is perfect, you will kill off the bacteria left over from the filters and well water has lots of bacteria.
I personally would just use the UV filter for the water going into the system but not to be run in-line with the setup
Nizza
Well-Known Member
Do you use your RO filter for drinking water? I do and mine has a post calcite filter to add back nutrients to the water to make the RO water ok to drink.
I don't want that calcite in my plants but wanted to sterilize the water
So then I decided to put the UV filter before my calcite filter, and add a tee with a shutoff between them. This allowed me to fill the buckets with calcite-free RO water and get drinking water from the end, but there was an issue..
I was worried the heat from the UV filter could be dissolving the calcite into the water too fast. I decided to just put the UV filter after the calcite at that point and just use non-uv non-calcite water for my buckets now.
I am not sure how the heat affects calcite but, I wouldn't use calcite water in hydro, or want to drink water that has too much calcite in it.
Mikenike
Well-Known Member
Yeah we drink it but we don’t have the added minerals so just plain RO water here. I did consider the added minerals since that’s our primary water source but you know plants come first haha. We live in the middle of the oil field and our waters not too good here.
DCcan
Well-Known Member
I run a UVC in my outdoor pond pump, I think it would do great in hydro.
You just run it on the return line into the reservoir, kills all the cooties in the water but not on any surfaces or medium.
The additional precipitate in the reservoir will be from dead organisms. You have to filter/ remove it. Does anyone use filters before discharging back in?
The inline UVC pond units are easy to clean and service.
You just run it on the return line into the reservoir, kills all the cooties in the water but not on any surfaces or medium.
The additional precipitate in the reservoir will be from dead organisms. You have to filter/ remove it. Does anyone use filters before discharging back in?
The inline UVC pond units are easy to clean and service.
SuperiorBuds
Well-Known Member
In my recirculating system I run 2 filters on the supply side, and 1 on the drain side. Probably overkill at this point, but it was leftovers from my HPA setup that required all particles to be removed or I'd clog the nozzles. (Plus the spin-down filter is ran to waste, so that allows me to drain/flush the system using the reservoir pump.)
This is the option I went with, as well. Since my RO is coming from the well I wanted to be 100% sure there was nothing making it through to the plants. I looked into in-reservoir UV systems but found out that the tank I use is not UV stable. (Check any plastics that will be exposed to the UV.) That's why I ended up with the in-line setup at the RO.
I also run HEPA filters on my airlines so the pump doesn't introduce anything from the outside air, and even with all of this -- I still run Pool Shock.
Phat J
Well-Known Member
I finally got a reply on the company. The main wavelength is 254nm.
Airwalker16
Well-Known Member
Oh wow. Be very careful with that. Never ever turn it on where you can see the bulb. Always turn on when it's installed and covered in its housing.
Airwalker16
Well-Known Member
Seems like a pretty legit setup. Just again, be careful.
Airwalker16
Well-Known Member
Seems kind of weird how they didn't put the outlet for water on the opposite side though. I guess the whole thing fills up and just circulates through. If you scroll through the pics it shows how to setup with RO.
GTConsulting
Member
iirc, UV-C will cause the iron in your nutes to percipitate. I'm not sure how strong/fast it will cause this though. I have a cheap 5w UV-C bulb that I use to sterilize tap water and may use it to briefly irradiate other things for sterilization, but I don't think running it constantly in a nute solution would be a good idea. Also, with enclosed tubes, you'll need a way to open it up and clean off any deposits on the light.