massive UV ?

[Chicago]

ok so i was thinking about this.. what is the issue if any of using a large uv sterilization over lets say the sump.

I have a 300 gallon sump in the basement. if there were no fish or other life in it.. in theory could one hang a large uv light over the sump at night and sterilize large amounts of water.??

[Chicago]

in other words find like a spot bulb that was uv and hang a spot light uv bulb over the sump???

[Chris Witort]

My understanding of most uv sterilizing units is that the water mus be very close to the bulb to be effective so i would think that it would only work on the very top layer of water closest to the bulb.

[Chicago]

hmm.. interesting.. so no really advantage.. i was just thinking how great it would be to uv the area of like 2 feet by 2 feet.. i have some old MH fixtures which direct light down nicely. i remeber years ago i had a water splash hit my MH bulb cracked it and the uv killed some of my sps..

[Epicreefer]

It depends on what you are trying to do but for the most part you would see a low return on the electricity used. It would kill somethings in the water, mostly microscopic algae, but not pests you need to be about 2" or less from the bulb for more than a brief flash to kill them. That's why 3' long uvs with fluorescent bulbs and moderate flows work well. If you really want to sterilize your water buy a 18w uv setup, it's probably a few hundred but gets the job done right. Another reason is you always want the bulb on, at least with fluorecent uvs, every time you cycle the bulb it costs a significant part of the lifecycle and you don't want to be staring at uv under your sump so it's going to be off and on constantly. And if your sump is not glass the uv will break down the plastic in a year or two.

[Fishbulb2]

My understanding of most uv sterilizing units is that the water mus be very close to the bulb to be effective so i would think that it would only work on the very top layer of water closest to the bulb.

I agree with this and it will be your limitation. Much more effective to use a traditional set up where you pump water through a chamber and keep it close to the bulb with a known flow rate.

FB

[Chicago]

thanks all..