Publicity for Berson test setup at WWTP Eindhoven
Berson has over 30 years of experience with developing systems for treating wastewater and drinking water with UV light. We find it very important to break the human pathogen cycle. Wastewater contains pathogens that cause diseases, if discharged in surface water these can enter downstream drinking water treatment. This way pathogens can re-enter the human water cycle, multiply and are discharged to the wastewater again. With the use of UV we can break this cycle without the use of chemicals.
We recently developed a new much more energy efficient UV system which we tested at the Eindhoven waste water treatment plant of Waterboard De Dommel. We are grateful for their hospitality and cooperation.
Eindhovens Dagblad interviewed our Technology Leader, Rick Heine, about the test setup located at Waterboard De Dommel. Read the article here (DUTCH), or read the English version below.
The secret of clean water is hidden in a tube in Eindhoven
Bron: ED.nl – ©FotoMeulenhof
EINDHOVEN / NUENEN – Worldwide, millions of people get sick because of the contaminated drinking water from surface waters and rivers. There’s work to be done for Berson UV-Techniek from Nuenen. They work with high-tech methods to purify waste water using ultra-violet light. For testing on a large scale, they use the effluent (purified sewage) from the wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) of Waterboard De Dommel.
Intense light
On the grounds of the WWTP in Eindhoven two large stainless steel reactors shine in the early spring sunshine. Inside is the secret of clean water; an installation with dozens of lamps. They look like fluorescent tubes, but with clear quartz glass. Water purification using UV-light is not new. But the cleaning of waste water goes much further than the cleaning of a swimming pool or pond. „The light from these lamps is intense.“ These are the words of Rick Heine of Berson UV. „We’re specialized in the cleaning of surface water using ultra violet light. And we’re not talking about the lights from a solarium. If you look into these lights, your eyes will be damaged.“
A million liters of water
Bron: ED.nl – ©FotoMeulenhof
Berson built a test setup at the wastewater treatment plant to test on a large scale. „We’re trying to get as much bacteria out of the water as possible with our lamps. Therefore we have to be sure that the water has a good flow pass the lamps. We can test that at Berson with regular drinking water, but during a test of an hour we need a million liters of water at least. That’s as much as the entire municipality of Nuenen uses in a day. It’s a waste of all that water, that’s why we test with the purified sewage water from the water authority. “
Han van Happen of Waterboard De Dommel looks over the shoulder of Heine. „Normally we’re not eager for companies to test at our facilities, however Berson is innovatively attempting to improve the quality of water. The quality of the treated water on our site constantly needs to improve, the regulations are getting tighter. If Berson develops a method that removes even the remaining pollution, it would be an interesting option for us in the future. But for now we still comply with all the rules.“
Berson is aiming to install their water treatment systems mainly in South America, Africa and Asia. „The need is great in those parts of the world because people are dying. If we can improve the quality of the surface water, the life of these people will be a bit better”, concludes Heine. The test setup at the WWTP runs until the end of this year.
