History of UV-C applications: The restart
After the depression phase, an expansion follows - this is true for the economy, but also for many other areas of life. Why the development of marketable UV-C applications entered a phase of standstill, you can read in the previous blog post "Of small and big steps - and standstill".
But now the time has come for UV-C applications to assert itself and successfully enter the market. For about 30 years, the lamps and the ballasts were revised and, above all, improved. Important basic work, which is still important today for many UV-C applications.
In 1940, disinfection with UV-C radiation was officially recognized in Europe, and was primarily used for water treatment. Just estimate the annual per capita water consumption (in m³) in Germany. That’s because all this water has to be treated before use. The solution for the correct amount of water you will find at the end of this article.
In 1970, the process of water treatment with chlorine was criticized by the US Environmental Protection Agency. The reason for this was the negative effects on health that possibly could result from the chlorine used. At the same time, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency financially supports the further development of UV applications for water treatment.
In 1978, a wastewater treatment plant in Bergen was equipped with a UV-C system for water treatment for the first time. So the applicability of these systems on a large scale, has also succeeded. In 1982, even in an open sewer, parallel to the water flow, a UV-C system was installed to disinfect this water.
In the field of water treatment, UV-C rays have been convincing, have been able to assert themselves on the market and have been widely used since the late 1980s. That means: on to new ways! In our next blog articles, we will introduce you to clever and innovative UV-C applications that ensure safety and hygiene in private, professional and public areas. You can stay curious!
And, what did you estimate the annual per capita water consumption in Germany to be? On average, a German uses 297m³, or 297,000 liters of water a year. Compared with some other countries, we still do quite well. Per capita water consumption in Japan, at 629m³, is more than twice as high as in Germany. And in the USA, in turn, almost twice as much water is consumed per capita than in Japan.
Sources:
(1) Whitby, G. E.; Scheible, O. K. (2004). IUVA NEWS, Vol. 6, No. 3: The History of UV and Wastewater. Zugriff unter unter: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/The-History-of-UV-and-Wastewater-Whitby-Scheible/eab5ecf0b57811055ec70ec61d639c37cb971e6c [27.07.2022].
(2) OECD, Zugriff unter: https://data.oecd.org/water/water-withdrawals.htm [23.09.2021].