Making household ultraviolet disinfection of contaminated drinking water a viable option for people with limited resources
The UV-Tube Project is part of the Renewable and Appropriate Energy Laboratory (RAEL) at University of California at Berkeley. The project focuses on improving water quality for people in developing areas where other water treatment methods are not applied consistently because of their cost, inconvenience, complexity, or energy requirements. The goal of the UV-Tube Project is to design and promote the UV-Tube—an affordable, simple, and easy to use household water disinfection device that uses ultraviolet (UV-C) light to inactivate pathogens. UV-Tubes can be built from materials available in developing areas and thus can be disseminated easily through community workshops hosted by local non-governmental organizations or sold by small-scale entrepreneurs.
UV-Tube Technology Description
The UV-Tube is a design concept. All UV-Tube designs incorporate a germicidal bulb suspended over water in a horizontal tube or covered trough. The water enters at one end through an inlet in the top of the tube, and then flows along the bottom (beneath the germicidal bulb) until it reaches an outlet at the opposite end where it exits. The height of the outlet sets the depth of the water in the tube and regulates the hydraulic detention time. Because the UV-Tube does not require water pressure to operate, it may be connected directly to a faucet or filled with a funnel and bucket, as shown above.
Design
The approach of the UV-Tube Project is to work iteratively alternating between laboratory validation and field testing and refinement. We are developing a variety of well-tested (i.e. safe and highly effective) designs that can be built from widely available parts to be used by individuals and institutions worldwide. Individual households, local NGOs (non-governmental organizations) or local entrepreneurs will have access to instructions to build a UV-Tube for personal use, distribution or sale. There are currently three UV-Tube designs and other related non-tube designs.
The first UV-Tube was made out of widely available PVC pipe. Currently, three materials (stainless lined PVC, concrete, and pottery) and three bulb sizes (36