Question:
we have had our well water here test positive for coliform bacteria morethen once so we decided to have a whole-house ultraviolet water purificationsystem installed by Rainsoft.. This was after i heard all the bad thingsabout rainsoft.. I honestly think all these water purification installersare crooks.. The guy had to come back to my house 3 times because the pipeswere still leaking.. I asked the guy about his past and he said he nevereven went to school to learn this.. What kind of friggin people are theseguys hiring?

But i would like to know is this system really effective in killing all thebacteria in the water? The water seems to move through it pretty fast..Also, i was doing a google search on this and a science teacher brought upthe fact that this type of ultraviolet on water could possibly cause cancerin humans.. Is there any proof of this? I was pretty piszed when i readabout that.. Our government will probably tell us 20 years from now that itcauses cancer..

Answer: The UV generated by your water purification unit is what's called shortwavelength or germicidal UV and it's very fast and effective at killingviruses, bacteria and other nasties. If the unit is sized for your watersystem and operating properly, it will work and the manufacturer'sliterature or web site should tell you if you have the right unit for yourapplication. To be absolutely sure, sample the incoming and output waterand have it tested.

Short wavelength UV can damage skin and eyes so you should not exposeyourself to UV radiation from the lamp. An automatic shut-off switch isusually part of the unit so the UV lamp will not operate if the unit isopen. The purification device should also have safety glass in theinspection port so the UV is kept inside the unit. Usually, some visibleblue light can be seen through the glass, but the harmful UV is filteredout.

Short wavelength UV is associated with skin cancer. If you expose your skinto the UV from sunshine or certain electric light sources over time andparticularly if you have had severe sunburns when you were young, yourchances of skin cancer go up. But your UV water purification unit does notexpose you to UV and nothing is done to the water as it goes through theunit that would make the water cause cancer.