Berson supplies UV disinfection technology to Ukrainian wastewater treatment plant

Berson has supplied two of its InLine+ UV disinfection systems to the wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) in the city of Chernihiv (population 350,000), north-east of Kiev, the Ukrainian capital. The Berson UV systems disinfect effluent prior to its discharge into the Desna River.

“Disinfection is necessary to meet Ukrainian bathing water standards and also to prevent effluent with high microbial loads of pathogenic viruses, parasites and bacteria entering the Desna River, which is also the main water supply for many communities downstream, including Kiev,” commented Chernihiv’s waterworks director, Sergey Shkin.

“Chemical disinfection with chlorine was not an option as we wanted to avoid unpleasant disinfection by-products such as trihalomethanes (THMs) and Halogenated Acetic Acids (HAAs), which are produced when chlorine reacts with the organic compounds in wastewater. Furthermore, as chlorine is a dangerous gas, additional safety measures are required to comply with rules for its transport and storage and for worker safety – these all carry additional costs. These factors, together with the fact that many dangerous bacteria and parasites, such as Cryptosporidium and Giardia, are resistant to chlorine, meant we opted for UV technology instead”, he added.

UV disinfection has none of the drawbacks of chlorination – it is completely chemical-free, and produces no unpleasant by-products. It is also simple to operate and maintain.

Chernihiv waterworks selected two Berson InLine 16000 systems, operating in parallel mode. Each UV chamber is equipped with 12 automatically-wiped medium pressure Multiwave® UV lamps and can treat effluent at a flow rate of 2000 m3/h (4000 m3/h in total). Because of the InLine design of the closed treatment chambers, they have low headloss and are also very compact with a small overall footprint, allowing them to be installed in a very small building. The incoming effluent is gravity-driven.

“We were very impressed by the very compact set-up of the Berson systems,” continued Mr Shkin. “This, together with all the other benefits already described, and also because many other Ukrainian drinking water and wastewater treatment facilities have already installed Berson UV units, helped make our decision to choose Berson.

“Added to this, the fact that the Berson systems are closed and are equipped with automatic wipers means our employees don’t come into contact with the wastewater or the UV from the lamps – this is an additional important safety consideration. Finally, as the UV chambers are very compact with low headloss, we are able to save on construction and pumping costs.”