UV Chosen to Disinfect Aruba’s Drinking Water and Greywater

Ten of  Berson’s (The Netherlands) InLine UV disinfection systems have been installed on the Caribbean island of Aruba – eight systems are used to disinfect drinking water and two are used to treat greywater prior to discharge. The island opted for UV instead of chlorine as part of its ‘non-chemical’ approach to water treatment.

Five Berson UV units are installed at the Balashi water treatment plant, the site of gold mill ruins near Aruba’s capital, Oranjestad. Operated by W.E.B. Aruba N.V., which supplies drinking water and electricity to the island’s residents and businesses, Balashi also houses the world’s second largest desalination plant. Aruba has a semi-arid climate so desalination is necessary to supply its growing population with much needed water.

Following the desalination process the water passes through the UV systems before being transported to seven storage tanks situated at elevated locations around the island. The UV units, which are installed outdoors and controlled by DGtronic microprocessors, each disinfect 400m3 of water per hour, rising to 600m3/h during peak flow conditions. No chlorine is used at any stage of water the treatment process.

Commenting on the installation, Project Manager Mr Ruiz said, “Chlorine was originally considered as an alternative to UV but was rejected after concerns over costs and safety. W.E.B. Aruba also has an anti-chemical policy”.

Two of the seven storage tanks situated around the island are also fitted with Berson’s InLine UV systems, providing an additional disinfection step prior to distribution. It is expected that all the tanks will eventually be fitted with UV. One of the storage tanks is situated in the harbour and supplies cruise ships with UV treated drinking water.

In addition to disinfecting drinking water, two Berson UV systems are also used to treat greywater. One unit is installed at each of the island’s two wastewater treatment plants and the treated greywater is used to irrigate the island’s two golf courses. The Dr. Horacio Hospital on the island also uses UV technology.

“There is a lot of interest in our UV systems on the island, especially from businesses wanting to use greywater for hosing down buildings,” says Berson’s customer service manager Danny van Kuringen. “It is very dusty on Aruba, so keeping the outside of buildings clean is a real concern for many companies. We have also recently supplied one of our new InLine+ UV systems to disinfect drinking water for the airport.”

Berson’s compact InLine medium pressure UV systems use MultiWave lamps, which emit a wide spectrum of UV wavelengths with a very high energy output, causing the total and permanent deactivation of microorganisms. The small size of the lamps means that they are positioned perpendicularly to the flow of liquid, increasing disinfection efficiency and reducing the overall size of the disinfection unit.