Mar 15 2005
In its drinking water facility in Andijk, recently opened by Prince Willem-Alexander, PWN Waterleidingbedrijf Noord-Holland applies a new, innovative water treatment proces. The process combines UV light and hydrogen peroxide to produce reliable drinking water from surface water. This is the first UV-peroxide facility on this scale. Since this technology is interesting for all water treatment facilities using surface water for drinking water production, it is of great interest worldwide.
PWN is the first drinking water treatment facility successfully applying the UV-peroxide technology on a large scale. PWN developed this technology in collaboration with the Canadian supplier of the UV equipment.
UV-peroxide treatment is based on the combined use of UV light and hydrogen peroxide. It is a cost-effective method, since two treatment steps are integrated: disinfection and degradation of organic micro-contaminants. These are, among others, pesticides and pharmaceuticals. An increasing number of these compounds are found in drinking water. Since this new treatment provides a general barrier against all problematic contaminants, drinking water quality is guaranteed for now and in the future.
An important advantage of this technology is that chlorine is no longer needed primary for disinfection at PWN. This eliminates the environmental and safety risks associated with the use of chlorine. However, conventional UV treatment uses relatively much energy. Therefore, PWN has taken all possible measures to reduce energy consumption to the absolute minimum. In addition, PWN uses "green power" for the process, and surplus heat is re-used for heating.
A seminar will be held on Friday, March 18, during which international speakers will give a comprehensive overview over the possible applications of UV/H2O2.
http://www.pwn.nl