Water in the replacement bottles (ought to) contain no disinfecting compounds such as chlorine to keep bacteria from multiplying so once the seal on the bottle gets broken, bacteria have a chance to enter the water supply, hang out, party like rock stars, and breed. Gross!

Ways to make water cooler water safer?

At this point we know of two ways to stop unwanted water cooler bacteria from ‘doing the nasty’ and getting away with it: UV Water Sterilizers and Ozone Generators.

UV Water Sterilizers more or less render bacteria unable to reproduce by exposing any bacteria passing through a water filter system to a specific wavelength of ultraviolet light. This method of water treatment normally leaves no chemical aftertaste or unpleasant odor — unless your water contained those things beforehand.

Ozone Generators generate ozone which effectively destroys organics on contact and leaves no unwanted chemical residue or bad tastes in the water. Again, water with bad odor or tastes previously will continue to have those problems.

Both of the above methods work best in systems that use other water treatment methods (i.e. reverse osmosis, carbon block filtration, ultrafiltration, etc.) to make drinking water safe for consumption. They provide a last line of defense again unwanted contaminants that could grow in holding tanks of water coolers or reverse osmosis units post-filtration since the filtering methods removed any anti-bacterial compounds and drinking water disinfectants.

Ultraviolet light disrupts the DNA structure of bacteria and other living organisms (aka: organic contaminants) sometimes found in drinking water. Cooler temperatures in water storage tanks contained in water coolers can create ideal conditions for biofilms and other types of ‘slime’ to build up and reproduce — especially since the water also contains no sort of disinfectant or sanitizing agent (i.e. chlorine).

UV sanitation stops biological contaminants from reproducing if present in drinking water. Granted nothing SHOULD have had a chance to get into the ‘guts’ of your water cooler in the first place, but if it did, the fact that the crystal clear, pristine water you expect that machine to produce contains nothing to prevent a colony of bacteria from breeding makes inside your water cooler a great place to live, breed and raise a family.

UV water sterilizers for home use?

The simplest UV systems for home use typically function as inline water filters. As an example, Crystal Quest manufacturers an easy-to-install home uv water sterilizer available in three sizes, each with a different flow rating: 6, 8 and 12 gallons per minute.

Many people choose to add an ultraviolet water sterilizer to existing whole house water filter systems or any other filtration system where bacteria could possibly exist.

A good number of folks with well water also choose to install a UV sterilizer system in their homes. After all… well water does come from an unfiltered, untreated source that could very easily become with bacteria.

Other places where a UV sterilizer would work well?

The hard glass germicidal lamps in UV sterilizer systems provide a 99.99% reduction of bacteria, virus and protozoa. They accomplish that feat without the use of potentially harmful chemicals. Environments such as health care facilities (i.e. doctor offices, hospitals, dental offices, etc.) and residences with small children, elderly or immunocompromised individuals can also definitely benefit from the use of UV sterilization on their water supply.

Ultraviolet Water Sterilizer Systems meet the most demanding needs of residential and commercial microorganism control — which sometimes proves difficult for traditional disinfectant methods given that microorganisms can range from bacteria and viruses to algae and protozoa. UV treatment systems for water accomplish the goal of disinfecting water faster than chlorine and without without cumbersome retention tanks filled w/ corrosive and potentially harmful chemicals.

Manufactured with axial flow reactors in 304 stainless steel for durability, the Crystal Quest Ultraviolet Water Sterilizer Systems incorporates natural ultraviolet light energy to damage the DNA of microbiological contaminants and in doing so kills them and/or renders them incapable of reproducing.

Applications for UV sterilization systems include post undersink water filters, post whole house water filters, water coolers, pre and post osmosis systems, private wells, camp grounds, hotels, bottlers, aquaculture, hospitals, food, cottages, restaurants, breweries, laboratories, marine, pharmaceutical, dairies and many other applications.

Advantages of Crystal Quest Ultraviolet Water Sterilizer Systems include:

• No need to add chemicals to the water which could form carcinogenic disinfection byproducts (DBP’s) like trihalomethanes (THM’s).
• Eliminates the need to store and handle dangerous chemicals.
• Requires only two water connections (in and out) and a power connection.
• UV sterilization typically does not alter the taste, odor, pH or conductivity or general chemistry of the water it treats.
• Works faster and more effectively against viruses than chlorine.
• Systems can treat hundreds of gallons of water for each penny of operating cost.
• Immediate treatment process eliminates need for holding tanks, long retention times, etc.
• Units operate automatically and require almost no attention.
• Most units require only periodic cleaning, if any cleaning at all, and annual lamp replacement.

Naturally you want to know what a unit like this costs, right? FilterWater.Com carries units rated for 1, 6, 8, and 12 gallons per minute GPM. Costs begin around $150 for the smallest unit and go up to around $543 for the largest unit.

What about replacement bulbs? How much will they cost? Good question! FilterWater.Com carries replacement bulbs for Crystal Quest UV Sterilizer Systems rated for 1, 6, 8, and 12 GPM.

Need a larger, more powerful UV Sterilization System? Take a look at the selection on WaterFilters.Net, another company that carries a great selection of water filter systems and replacement filter cartridges for residential and commercial water filtration applications.

In the past we have talked about reverse osmosis water filtration units and now we want to talk about them again… because apparently Crystal Quest, a leading manufacturer of drinking water filtration products has decided to take things to the next level by coupling some of their RO units with Ultra Filtration and UV Sterilization devices.

These Reverse Osmosis/Ultrafiltration systems produce up to 100 gallons of highly filtered water per day and remove up to 99.9% of undesirable contaminants and filter particles as small as 1/1000 of a micron.

Then, as if not pure enough, the water can, depending upon the system selected, pass through a UV Sterilizer where any remaining biologicals get wiped out.

To put all that in layman’s terms, these RO/UF drinking water filtration systems remove pretty much everything you would want taken out of your drinking water. The manufacturer even claims they remove phramaceuticals and pharmaceutical residuals from the water they treat!

Thunder 3000C RO/UF

Thunder 4000M RO/UF/UV

Thunder 4000MP RO/UF/UV w/ Pressure Pump

• What is Reverse Osmosis?
• How Does Reverse Osmosis Work?
• Why Install a Reverse Osmosis Filter?