Thread: On the hunt for a UVC (~15,000+lph)

As you know I run an eco pond, air powered and no UVC.. however that means I have to cope with algae blooms when the sun comes out.. but that then takes a while to sort.. which is not good for when people come over for a BBQ. The fish also seem less stressed with some murk.. but a good UVC will resolve the blooms in less than a week and I can easily plan ahead.

So I'm on the hunt for a UVC system. Pond size is ~14,000 litres with the filter system comfortably running at 20,000lph at the moment. So I'm considering a Oase Bitron to provide a periodic nuking of the water.

I have a couple of options to connet:
* 110mm - I could work out a way to fit a large aperture UVC onto the back of one of the 110mm returns at the back of the bio filtration. The complication is that I have some down pipes that have very limited space (think enough to get a T junction in at the moment, so this would have to have a 90 out to the side, through the UVC and then loop back to the down pipe - a lot of 90 degree bends hence it would cause an imbalance so more water would flow through the second down pipe.
* 2" (63mm) - I have a 63mm pipe laid specifically for running a waterfall at a later date. This would allow me to use my existing varipump 20K to return to the pond. I could feed through the UVC on it's way back - the only gotcha is that the drum is maxed out as it is at the moment, so I would have to draw the water from either the dirty side of the drum, or the skimmer then through the UVC and return. Temporarily I can mount the entire kit next to the pond for maximum flow rate.

I have a drum system but I'm concerned adding an amalgam bulb to it will damage the seals and the plastics in use (it's a Draco Drum) so an encased external is a preferred option.


The realistically the minimum this really needs is 10-20,000lph. So the UVC needs to cope with that. Hence I'm considering the 180W bitron then having the option to switch on/off at will.


Anyone had any experience with the Oase Bitron (or even the premium) series?

An alternative could be to get an 80W amalgam T5 bulb, then use an off cut of 110mm PVC pipe with two T junctions. I could then pump from the bottom with a top return and that would ensure the bulb is always submerged.

I've ordered a 80W amalgam and some UPVC pressure piping fittings. I can then use my 110mm pressure pipe left over from the filter pipework. The final fitting will be a 63mm in/out with the 110mm pipe for the main chamber. It should do 20Klph with the varipump feeding it.

This makes it more flexible if I want to change this in future or move the bulb and even on replacing the bulb etc..

IMG_1168.jpg

DIY'd it - 80W amalgam in a UPVC tube that can be replaced easily. Running at the minimum (supposedly) of 10,000lph but it could do more.

I'm still waiting on some bits to be delivered, hence running it by the side of the pond but it seems to be working.

With the sun we have been getting it's taking a while to clear.. but it is clearing.

It's occurred to me that:
a) the UV doesn't penetrate far in murky water going through the UVC
b) as the water does clear over consecutive days
c) the clearer water passing through the UVC allows more UV to penetrate and thus it becomes more efficient.

So over time the efficiency and clearing gets better faster over time.

The joys of a heatwave..