Home > Technical Library > Drinking Water

UV dose for 99.9% destruction

Ultraviolet light dose required for 99.9% destruction of various micro-organisms in microWatt seconds per square centimeter at wavelength 254 nanometers
Micro-organisms UV dose
Bacteria
Agrobacterium tumefaceans 8500
Bacillus anthraci 8700
Bacillus megaterium 2500
Bacillus subtilis 11000
Clostridium tetani 22000
Corynebacterium diphtheriae 6500
Escherichia coli 7000
Legionella bozemanii 3500
Legionella dumoffii 5500
Legionella gormanii 4900
Legionella micdadei 3100
Legionella longbeachae 2900
Legionella pneumophila 3800
Leptospira interrogans (jaundice) 6000
Mycobacterium tuberculosis 10000
Neisseria catarrhalis 8500
Proteus vulgaris 6600
Pseudomonas aeruginosa 3900
Pseudomonas aeruginosa 10500
Rhodospirilium rubrum 6200
Salmonella enteritidis 7600
Salmonella paratyphi 6100
Salmonella typhimurium 15200
Salmonella typhosa (thyphoid) 6000
Sarcina lutea 26400
Serratia marcescens 6200
Shigella dysenteriae (dysentery) 4200
Shigella flexneri (dysentery) 3400
Shigella sonnei 7000
Staphylococcus opidermidis 5800
Staphylococcus aureus 7000
Streptococcus faecalis 10000
Strreptococcus hemolyticus 5500
Streptococcus lactis 8000
Viridans streptococcus 3800
Vibrio cholerae (cholera) 6500
Mold Spores
Mucor ramosissimus 35200
Penicillum expensum 22000
Penicillum roqueforti 26400
Algae
Cholorella vulgaris 22000
Viruses
Bacteriophage (E. Coli) 6600
Hepatitis virus 8000
Influenza virus 6600
Poliovirus 21000
Rotavirus 24000
Yeast
Baker's yeast 8800
Brewer's yeast 6600
Common yeast cake 13200
Saccharomyces var.ellipsoideus 13200
Saccharomyces sp 17600
Cysts
Cysts normally cannot be killed with UV, but are removed with a sub-micron filter such as the EPCB (extended pass carbon block) filter.
Cysts include Giardia Llamblia and Cryptosporidium.

For point of use home systems a UV of about 16,000 microwatts energy is preferable.

NSF Mark

Certified by NSF International to NSF/ANSI Standard 61.

WQA Member