Ultraviolet (UV) Filtration-Pharmaceutical Purified water system component

In General, Pharmaceutical Purified water system is system made-up with the composition of various sanitization and filtration system. We had information about those systems in previous articles as a part of series of Pharmaceutical Purified Water Generation system for Drug substance.

In continuation here we will a brief information on one of the major and important component of Pharmaceutical Purified water generation system i.e. Ultraviolet (UV) Filtration.

What is ultraviolet (UV) FILTRATION?

Ultraviolet (UV) filtration process that uses ultraviolet light to purify / disinfect the source water. This filtration system plays very crucial role in Purified water generation system. Ultraviolet (UV) Filtration is known to have remove bacteria, viruses and other organisms that are harmful and have adverse effects to the human health.

Ultraviolet (UV) light is a disinfection technology for water treatment that is highly effective in killing and inactivating many kinds of pathogenic microorganisms.

Figure: 01: Ultraviolet (UV) Filtration system

What is the Component of Ultraviolet (UV) Filtration system?

Common component of Ultraviolet (UV) Filtration systems are;

A.    UV Chamber
B. UV Lamp
C.     Quartz Sleeve
D.     Control Unit

In Ultraviolet (UV) filtration / disinfection systems, water is purified by passing through a stainless-steel (SS) chamber that contains a special UV-producing lamp protected by their quartz tubes.

How does ultraviolet (UV) Filtration works?

Water passes through the UV Chamber having UV lamp, the microbes present in the water get the lethal dose of UV light. This simple flow purifies / Filter the water and protects from the Viruses, bacteria and protozoa. This technology has an advantage of not generating any disinfection by-products, which further gives the purified water.

The UV light is situated inside a chamber that is part of the purified water generation system. Water runs through the chamber and is exposed to the UV wavelength, which deactivates the organisms in the water. The deactivated bacteria and other organisms are no longer able to replicate, which makes them useless and unable to impact negatively.

UV lamps can generate UV-C rays with wavelengths between 100 and 400 nm. The most commonly used wavelength for microbial reduction in pharmaceutical water treatment systems is 254 nanometers (nm). UV light at this wavelength can penetrate the cells of microorganisms and alter their DNA so that they can no longer reproduce.

We should know….

# UV Chamber MOC may vary, however in pharmaceutical water generation system Stainless
steel (SS) MOC is referred.

# UV lamps can generate UV-C rays with wavelengths between 100 and 400 nm. The most
commonly used wavelength for microbial reduction in pharmaceutical water treatment
systems is 254 nanometers (nm).

#        Ultraviolet light / lamps is also very useful for catalyzing the breakdown of ozone or
      hydrogen peroxide used as sanitizing agents in the purified water generation system,
        although its efficacy is often diminished by poorly maintained or malfunctioning lamps.
        (Ref.).

# Quartz Sleeve is a long cylindrical tube of quartz glass, used to protect the UV lamp.

# UV Lamp is the heart of the system so need to be monitored closely for the effective
performance of it via Lamp change frequency that may vary with respect to the
intensity/power of the UV Lamp.

In Brief UV Filtration is a quick and low-cost method of water purification is UV disinfection. In this procedure, a UV lamp is used to expose the water to UV rays of particular wavelengths, which kills pathogens like bacteria, viruses, algae, moulds, etc., in the water.