What is a UV-C Clarifier and how does it work?
The most common complaint people have about their pond or water feature is that the water isn’t crystal clear.
The two most likely causes of cloudy or otherwise unclear water are going to be fine silt or algae.
Unless external water sources, such as surface run-off are constantly bringing silt in, this issue will most likely be sorted through regular filtration and cleaning of your filter sponge. For a quicker result you can use a product such as our PondMAX ClearMAX flocculant which will drop any suspended particles to the bottom of the pond.
Dealing with algae is however another thing altogether. As algae are living plant-like organisms they won’t simply go away through conventional filtering. For major algae problems or persistent algae such as string-algae you may need to use a liquid or granulated treatment from the PondMAX range.
For ongoing crystal clear water there is however a super simple algae solution – a UVC clarifier.
So what is a UVC clarifier and how does it work?
UVC stands for ultra-violet C light with C being the designation of its particular wavelength. Specialised UVC globes have the capacity to sterilise or disinfect both solids and liquids. This means that algae moving very close to a UVC light source can effectively be neutralised.
Depending on the speed the water is moving at and the strength of the light from a UVC light source they can also sterilise bacteria and even viruses. This is in-fact often done in domestic drinking water systems where a home is supplied by tank water.
What a UVC clarifier means for your pond or water feature is that you have a very simple way to keep algae under control and your water clear just by including one in your pump or filtration set-up.
You’ll find there are two main types of UVC clarifying unit – integrated and in-line.
An integrated UVC clarifier will most often be seen in an all-in-one style of pump such as our PondMax PM2600 or in a external filtration unit. In the all in one pump systems the pump, UVC steriliser and various stages of physical filtration are all housed within the one submersible unit. Water is drawn into the pump from the pond and passes through the physical filters before being run past the UVC clarifier and discharged back into the pond.
A pressure filter with integrated UVC clarifier works in basically the same way however they are installed outside of the pond and water is pumped into the filter normally en-route to a waterfall or feature. Inside the pressure filter, the water is mechanically filtered and then as a final stage before going back to the pond, it is UVC sterilised. The beauty of in-line UVC clarifiers is that they can be quickly and easily retro-fitted to existing pond setups.
Any UVC clarifier will need power to operate, this is an integrated part of an all-in-one but does mean that an in-line unit will need a power source. Maintenance is simple. All UVC units have small port that allows the light emitted to be seen externally. This tells you the globe is functioning properly.
When the light goes out it’s time to replace the globe although it is recommended to replace the globe every 12-months as their intensity diminishes with operating hours.
So that’s it! UVC clarifiers are the easy way to professional pond clarity.
