taylrl Posted February 28, 2006 Share Posted February 28, 2006 I have noticed that there is a UV light inside the tank of our water cooler at work, and was wondering what the benefits of this were, and how they occured. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swansont Posted February 28, 2006 Share Posted February 28, 2006 UV tends to have enough energy ionize many atoms/molecules, which can damage cells. I think the idea is that it kills bacteria in the water. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Primarygun Posted February 28, 2006 Share Posted February 28, 2006 Is UV very penetrating? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ecoli Posted February 28, 2006 Share Posted February 28, 2006 Is UV very penetrating? for bacteria in the water yes... Also for humans, but probably not on the scale that the water cooler is using. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdurg Posted February 28, 2006 Share Posted February 28, 2006 UV light has a far, far, far greater wavelength than X-Rays and Gamma-Rays do. As a result, they are far easier to block and ANY non-transparent substance will block the UV rays. In fact, your sunglasses will block UV rays too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silkworm Posted February 28, 2006 Share Posted February 28, 2006 May I ask how you noticed this UV light?... ..... Sorry, disregard. I thought you meant you noticed some UV light of unknown origin penetrating this tank. I didn't realize it was from a part of the tank. My apologies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swansont Posted February 28, 2006 Share Posted February 28, 2006 UV light has a far, far, far greater wavelength than X-Rays and Gamma-Rays do. As a result, they are far easier to block and ANY non-transparent substance will block the UV rays. In fact, your sunglasses will block UV rays too. Not cheap ones, which is why they are dangerous. They block visible light, making the iris/pupil open up, but let in most of the UV. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sisyphus Posted February 28, 2006 Share Posted February 28, 2006 The UV is almost certainly for the purpose of killing bacteria in the water. I've seen swimming pools which cycle their water under UV light instead of using chlorine to keep them sterilized. Nifty system. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Klaynos Posted February 28, 2006 Share Posted February 28, 2006 The UV is almost certainly for the purpose of killing bacteria in the water. I've seen swimming pools which cycle their water under UV light instead of using chlorine to keep them sterilized. Nifty system. I agree killing bacteria, I once stayed in an activity center on the middle of a moor that took it's water from a stream and cleaned it in this way... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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