Berson UV News - a Halma PR news blog

UV Disinfection Specialist to Showcase World-Leading UV Disinfection Technology

UV (ultraviolet) disinfection specialist Berson UV-techniek will be exhibiting at the World Future Energy Summit, being held in Abu Dhabi in January. The company will be showcasing its world-leading UV disinfection technology, which is used worldwide for non-chemical disinfection of drinking water and wastewater.

“The summit is the largest meeting of the most influential figures in the renewable energy industry,” comments Berson’s International Area Sales Manager Simon Robb. “Water re-use is one of the themes of the summit, and as we are one of the leaders in the use of UV for water and wastewater re-use, we considered it important to be represented,” he added.

Berson’s booth will be located in the Netherlands Pavilion, which will also feature many of Holland’s other leading water companies. Holland is one of the nations most at risk from the environmental effects of climate change so, not surprisingly, it is also one of the most forward-thinking in terms of environmental technology.

Berson UV-techniek, de in Nederland gevestigde specialist op het gebied van UV-disinfectie, heeft de heer Xander Lamers benoemd als haar nieuwe verkoopdirecteur. Hij krijgt verantwoordelijkheid voor het uitbreiden van de verkopen van Berson over de hele wereld, vooral in belangrijke markten in Azië zoals China en India.

Xander heeft meer dan 10 jaar ervaring op het gebied van de strategische marketing van op technologie gebaseerde producten, het opstellen van wereldwijde distributienetwerken en het uitbreiden van business door producteninnovatie en het verschaffen van systeemoplossingen. Hij heeft tot nu toe bij Schmitz Foam Products B.V. gewerkt, waar hij Exportmanager was voor elastische schuimproducten van deze firma voor de toepassingen op de constructie- en vrijetijdsmarkt.

Hij heeft een Bachelors graad in Technische Bedrijfskunde en een MBA van Webster University in St Louis, USA.

Bij wijze van commentaar op zijn benoeming zei Xander, “Er zijn op het ogenblik zoveel interessante ontwikkelingen en daarom verheug ik mij erop bij te dragen tot Berson’s voortdurende groei. Met onze sterke wetenschappelijke kennisbasis zijn we in staat om het gebruik van onze uitmuntende technologie op het gebied van UV waterbehandeling uit te breiden.”

Berson UV-techniek, the Netherlands-based UV disinfection specialist, has appointed Mr Xander Lamers as its new Sales Director. He will be responsible for expanding Berson’s sales worldwide, especially in key Asian markets such as China and India.

Xander has over 10 years experience in the strategic marketing of technology-based products, setting up worldwide distributor networks and achieving business growth through product innovation and providing systems solutions. He joins Berson from Schmitz Foam products B.V. where he was Export Manager for the company’s elastic foam products for the construction and leisure markets.

He has a Bachelors Degree in Technical Business Administration from the University of Eindhoven in the Netherlands and an MBA from Webster University in St Louis, USA.

Commenting on his appointment Xander said, “With many exciting developments under way I am greatly looking forward to being part of Berson’s continuing growth. With our strong scientific knowledge base we are exceptionally well placed to expand the use of our world-beating UV water treatment technology.”

Berson’s closed vessel, medium pressure UV disinfection technology has been selected by Goulburn Mulwaree Council in New South Wales, Australia, for an innovative effluent irrigation scheme. The scheme is one of a number of initiatives by the Council to conserve precious potable water.

Installed by Ted Willson and Sons Ltd and supplied by CST Wastewater Solutions, Berson’s Australian distributor, the pressurised, on-demand effluent irrigation scheme uses four Berson InLine UV chambers in two parallel trains of two chambers each. Each UV chamber contains 12 Berson 3.5kW medium pressure multi-wave lamps. The UV system can operate with either one twin train of chambers or both trains together, for flows up to 400 litres per second. A low-flow jacking pump system maintains the irrigation system pressure when there is no demand.

The original construction contract was to pump from the storage lagoon to an in-channel, low pressure UV treatment system, feeding to a second, storage tank. This would be followed by an on-demand pumped irrigation system. After a review, it was decided to opt for a more simple, innovative approach, using a pressurised, on-demand irrigation scheme and closed-vessel, medium pressure UV technology.

Pieter Groenewegen of CST comments: “Until now the Australian water and wastewater industry has been dominated by low pressure, in-channel UV systems, but increasingly designers and end-users are starting to appreciate the benefits of closed-vessel, medium pressure systems. Berson’s InLine medium pressure chambers allowed us to simplify the civil works and the whole installation. There have been big cost savings for the Council, with no need for large open channels, additional storage tanks and two pump stations, giving  lower construction and operating costs. These savings run into several hundred thousand dollars.”

According to Greg Finlayson, the Council’s Manager of Water Services, “We were already using effluent for irrigation, but the UV-treated effluent gave the Council more opportunities for reuse, as well as improving the quality of the water that eventually finds its way into the Wollondilly River, which is part of the Sydney water catchment.”

Marina Hollands, the Council’s Water and Waste Engineer, added, “The UV disinfection system is achieving a good microbial kill rate and the performance of the completed scheme is excellent.”

Under the original plans the storage pond embankment would have required significant reconstruction to fit a pump, wet well and large concrete channel for housing the low-pressure UV lamps. The new design did not require the embankment reconstruction or the concrete channel – the medium pressure UV units are all in-pipe so have a very compact footprint. The UV system also has many fewer lamps than a low-pressure alternative and is therefore much easier to maintain.

Unlike low pressure UV lamps, the multi-wave, medium pressure UV lamps used in Berson’s InLine chambers produce a broad spectrum of UV wavelengths which act on the whole microorganism, rather than just its DNA alone. This provides permanent deactivation by ensuring photoreactivation and dark repair of the microorganisms’ DNA cannot occur [1].

[1] It has been shown in independent tests that many microorganisms are able to repair themselves after exposure to UV from low pressure lamps, especially if they are subsequently exposed to sunlight, a process known as photoreactivation. Some can even repair themselves without the aid of sunlight, known as dark repair. (See: Hu J. Y.,  Chu, S. N.,  Quek, P. H., Feng, Y. Y.,  and Tan, X. L. (2005). Repair and regrowth of Escherichia coli after low- and medium-pressure ultraviolet disinfection. Water Science and Technology: Water Supply, Vol. 5, No. 5, 101-108).

Halma’s UV firma’s Berson UV-techniek en Hanovia Ltd gaan voor de eerste maal een stand delen op de Aquatech watertechnologie tentoonstelling van dit jaar in Amsterdam. De firma’s willen hun gezamenlijke sterkte tonen op het gebied van zowel de municipaal als de industriële waterbehandelingsmarkt, waar ze tot de wereldleiders behoren wat betreft UV- technologie.

Berson, uit Eindhoven in Nederland, specialiseert zich op het gebied van communale toepassingen en stelt zijn InLine® en InLine+ reeks gesloten reactor  UV- desinfectiesystemen tentoon. Berson is in staat om drink- en afvalwaterflows tot 5000 m3/uur te behandelen en hebben een uniek design met onder een hoek van 90o op de waterstroom geplaatste middendruk UV-lampen met hoge UV-output . Dit heeft niet alleen een veel effectievere distributie van UV-licht naar de passerende vloeistof tot gevolg, maar betekent ook een meer compacte installatie met installatie- en onderhoudsgemak tot gevolg.

Hanovia is gevestigd in Slough in het Verenigd Koninkrijk en specialiseert zich op toepassingen op het gebied van de industrie, aquacultuur en zwembaden. De firma toont een aantal nieuwe UV- systemen voor industriële toepassingen voor waterbehandeling bij de productie van voedingsmiddelen en dranken en hoge zuiverheidtoepassingen zoals  in de farmaceutische, chemische en elektronische industrie. De firma is geïnteresseerd poteniële distributeurs voor haar producten te ontmoeten.

For the first time, the Halma UV companies Berson UV-techniek and Hanovia Limited will be exhibiting jointly at this year’s Aquatech water technology exhibition in Amsterdam. The companies will be showing their combined strength in both the municipal and industrial water treatment markets, where they rank among the world leaders in UV technology.

Berson, based near Eindhoven in the Netherlands, specialises in municipal applications and will be showing its InLine and InLine+ range of closed-vessel UV disinfection systems. Capable of treating water and wastewater flows as high as 5000 m3/hour, they have a unique design where the UV lamps are angled at 90^o to the water flow. This not only means a more effective distribution of UV light to the passing fluid, it also means a much smaller footprint, allowing easy installation and servicing.

Hanovia, based in Slough in the United Kingdom, specialises in industrial, aquaculture and swimming pool applications. The company will be showing a number of new UV systems for industrial water treatment applications such as food and beverage processing and high purity applications like pharmaceutical and electronics manufacturing. The company is also interested to meet potential distributors for its products.

Europahal, Booth 211
Aquatech Amsterdam 2008
September 30 – October 3, 2008
Amsterdam RAI Exhibition Centre
Amsterdam, Netherlands

The largest ever DVGW*-certified medium pressure UV disinfection system in Germany has been installed at the Essen-Horst drinking water treatment plant in the heart of the Ruhr region. Supplied by Netherlands-based Berson UV-techniek, the closed vessel UV system comprises four InLine 15000 DW-DVGW disinfection chambers and associated control and monitoring equipment.

Each of the four UV chambers disinfects up to 1,060 m3/hour (SAC value** of 6.5/metre) of ground water adjacent to the Ruhr River. Providing a log-3 microbial reduction, the Berson UV system is installed following chlorine dioxide treatment and provides an enhanced level of disinfection during flooding situations.

“One of the main reasons for installing UV was to provide extra disinfection capacity in the event of the Ruhr flooding over onto the drinking water catchment area,” commented Mr Langenberg, Head of Procurement at Wassergewinnung Essen GmbH. “Although it is a rare occurrence, we need to be sure that if flooding does occur, we have systems in place to ensure the quality of our drinking water.”

“We looked at a number of UV options, including low pressure UV systems,” continued Mr Langenberg. “However, due to the space requirements and long term operational costs, low pressure UV was ruled out. We chose Berson’s closed vessel medium pressure technology as it not only offered a technologically advanced, DVGW-approved disinfection solution with a small footprint, but will also prove to be the most economical in the long term. The very short lead-time for delivery was also a decisive factor.”

The Essen-Horst water treatment plant supplies drinking water to over 475,000 people in a very large urban area including the cities of Gelsenkirchen and Herne and parts of Bochum, Hattingen, Spröckhovel and Velbert-Langenberg.

The InLine 15000 DW-DVGW chambers feature Berson’s innovative MultiWave medium pressure UV lamps, which are orientated perpendicular to the water flow to achieve optimum UV exposure. Unlike conventional UV lamps, MultiWave lamps produce a broad spectrum of wavelengths which act on the whole microorganism, rather than its DNA alone. This provides permanent deactivation by ensuring photoreactivation and dark repair of the microorganisms’ DNA cannot occur.

Integral sensors monitor UV light intensity in each treatment chamber, while a custom-built control panel provides communication between the UV chambers and the control room.  Also incorporated in each UV unit is an automatic DVGW-approved wiping mechanism which cleans the quartz sleeves surrounding the lamps and keeps them free of any deposits. A major benefit of automated wiping means no chemicals are required for cleaning, especially important for drinking water.

“Berson is one of the few suppliers in Germany capable of providing a complete range of DVGW-approved UV disinfection systems with capacities between 10 – 2,200 m3/hour,” commented the company’s European sales manager, Rob Frakking. “Since introducing our DVGW-certified systems in Germany a few years ago we have been working non-stop to keep up with demand from German waterworks,” he added.

* DVGW (German Technical and Scientific Association for Gas and Water) is the body responsible for industry self-regulation in the German water and gas and water supply industry and its technical rules are the basis for safety and reliability.

** SAC (Spectral Absorption Coefficient) is the measured value of the UV absorption of water. It is a total parameter for the measurement of the organic substances or load.

A large scale closed vessel UV disinfection plant from Dutch UV specialist Berson is treating drinking water for around 650,000 people in Paris, France. Located to the north of the city in the suburb of Méry-sur-Oise, the UV plant is one of the largest European installations of Berson’s InLine range of UV equipment. Five InLine 1500 units are installed in parallel to provide disinfected drinking water at the rate of 7500 m3/h.

Berson, a Halma company, is now supplying its medium pressure UV disinfection systems in the UK for the first time. Although new to the UK market, Berson’s UV technology for municipal water and wastewater applications is well established on the European continent, the USA and Australia. The company has many successful reference sites, of which Méry-sur-Oise is just one.

The Méry-sur-Oise plant uses water from the nearby River Oise. Following pre-treatment and nanofiltration the water is pumped through five UV units positioned in parallel, which kills any remaining microorganisms. The treated drinking water is supplied to 37 districts in the northern suburbs of Paris, with daily production totalling 340,000 m3.

The InLine units feature Berson’s innovative MultiWave medium pressure UV lamps, which are orientated perpendicular to the water flow to achieve optimum UV exposure. Unlike conventional UV lamps, MultiWave lamps produce a broad spectrum of wavelengths which act on the whole micro-organism, rather than its DNA alone, ensuring permanent deactivation.

An integral sensor monitors UV light intensity in each treatment chamber, while a custom-built control panel provides communication between the UV units and the plant control room.  Also incorporated in each UV unit is an automatic wiping mechanism which cleans the quartz sleeves surrounding the lamps and keeps them free of water-borne deposits.

Following the tremendous success of Berson UV-techniek’s large, closed vessel medium pressure UV disinfection systems in municipal water and wastewater applications in Germany, France, Scandinavia, the USA and Australia, the company is now offering them in the UK for the first time. Berson, a Halma company based in the Netherlands, will be building on the reputation of its British sister company Hanovia Limited and using Hanovia’s extensive service support network.

Berson’s medium pressure InLine systems are especially designed to provide closed vessel disinfection of both drinking water and wastewater at very high volumes and flow rates. Berson is the only manufacturer of medium pressure UV water disinfection systems to be certified to the stringent German DVGW Standard, W294 (Parts 1, 2 & 3) – the highest standard currently possible in the world.

Major advantages of closed vessel, medium pressure UV compared to open channel, low pressure UV systems include a much smaller footprint, automated, mechanical cleaning of the UV lamps, and permanent deactivation of microorganisms.

Conventional low pressure open channel UV wastewater systems often need large treatment channels and many numbers of UV lamps, taking up valuable space that could be used for other purposes. Berson’s closed vessel, InLine medium pressure systems, on the other hand, have a very small footprint and can easily be integrated into existing pipework with minimal disruption. Keeping all the UV lamps clean in open channel, low pressure systems is also a difficult task and usually requires chemical dosing, a costly and time-consuming process which produces unwanted waste products which have to be dealt with effectively. Closed vessel systems, on the other hand, use in-built automatic wipers which manually clean the quartz sleeves surrounding the UV lamps, doing away with the need for chemical cleaning. Finally, microbial re-growth, known as photo-reactivation, has been shown to occur when microorganisms such as E.coli  are treated with low pressure UV and subsequently exposed to sunlight, as is the case with open channel, low pressure UV systems. This does not happen with closed vessel medium pressure UV systems (references 1 and 2).

“We are delighted to be moving into the UK municipal water and wastewater market,” commented Sjors van Gaalen, Berson’s managing director. “Our UV technology is well established on the European continent and in the USA and Australia, but relatively unknown in the UK. We strongly believe that our unique offering of closed-vessel, medium pressure UV technology will prove just as successful here as it has done around the world.”

Berson, along with fellow UV companies Hanovia Limited in the UK and Aquionics Inc in the USA, is part of the Fluid Technology Division of Halma p.l.c. (www.halma.com). Together, the three companies are one of the largest suppliers of UV disinfection technology in the world. Halma p.l.c. is an international market leader in safety, health and sensor technology. It is a public company listed on the London Stock Exchange and has over 3300 employees in over 40 subsidiaries worldwide. These subsidiaries make products that protect lives and improve the quality of life for people through innovation in market leading products which make its customers safer, more competitive and more profitable.

References:

1. Zimmer, J. L. & Slawson, R. M. (2002). Potential repair of Escherichia coli DNA following exposure to UV radiation from both medium- and low-pressure UV sources used in drinking water treatment. Applied & Environmental Microbiology, Vol. 68, No. 7, 3293-3299.
2. Hu J. Y.,  Chu, S. N.,  Quek, P. H., Feng, Y. Y.,  and Tan, X. L. (2005). Repair and regrowth of Escherichia coli after low- and medium-pressure ultraviolet disinfection. Water Science and Technology: Water Supply, Vol. 5, No. 5, 101-108.

Berson UV disinfection equipment is helping the award-winning Flat Creek Water Reclamation Facility (WRF) in Georgia, USA, exceed permit limits for faecal output by a significant margin. The Berson systems were installed by its American sister company.

“We installed three Berson medium pressure InLine UV systems over six years ago, adding three more in 2004, and they have performed exactly as expected, with all our faecal samples well below the permit limit,” commented Flat Creek’s Plant Manager Michael West.

The Flat Creek WRF recently gained a second place National Clean Water Act Recognition Award for operations and maintenance from the US Environment Protection Agency (USEPA). According to the USEPA, the Flat Creek Water Reclamation Facility is one of the two treatment plants in Georgia recognized for “their innovative approaches and achievements,” which “improve water quality and protect public health and the environment in the communities they serve.”

The Berson units are arranged in three trains of two chambers each, providing a ’series’ approach to ensure adequate disinfection to the 23 faecal colonies per 100ml sample required by the National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit. The systems are designed to treat a combined total of over 45 million litres per day of wastewater (up to 80% industrial and 20% low level commercial and residential) for discharge into nearby Lake Lanier. “With the impact of the severe drought in our area causing the level of the lake to fall to historically low levels, every drop of reclaimed water that can possibly be returned to the lake is essential,” added West.

Berson InLine systems use high-output, medium pressure UV technology to deliver a high dose of UV disinfection which destroys microorganisms with fewer and smaller lamps than comparable low pressure systems. The closed chambers are compatible with both gravity fed and pumped applications, providing low maintenance disinfection with minimal headloss.

This closed pipe design was an important feature for the City of Gainesville, which Flat Creek serves. When first selecting UV equipment for the Flat Creek WRF, representatives from the City’s Public Utilities Department visited several neighbouring metro Atlanta facilities and examined a range of open and closed pipe systems from various manufacturers. “The excessive man-hours required to keep an open channel unit clean was a large factor in choosing the Berson closed channel system initially,” said West.

Ease of handling was another feature in Berson’s favour, according to West, as rather than handling an entire bank of lamps at a time, the InLine’s single lamps may be changed quickly and easily by plant personnel. To further reduce maintenance, the chambers are equipped with an automatic cleaning mechanism to keep lamp sleeves free of organic deposits.

The systems feature Berson’s UVTronic™ microprocessor controls and transmittance monitors specifically designed for wastewater, providing real time transmittance values that allow for dose pacing of the UV system. The control unit records up to 12 months of operational data for record keeping and analysis and generates discrete fault alarms to aid in the diagnosis of performance problems. The controller can also be fitted with a modem connection to perform remote diagnostics on the system for fast troubleshooting with minimal service interruption.