Most float centers still rely on outdated water treatments. Hydrogen peroxide alone doesn’t cut it—but paired with UV light, it turns into a powerful disinfecting force. Float tank water gets a serious upgrade.
Here’s why.
Before discussing UV and H2O2 disinfection systems, let’s first address what health departments consider to be inappropriate float tank water disinfectants.
In the pool and spa industry that governs float tanks, disinfectants need to be approved by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Through the EPA review process, disinfectants are assessed based on their level of effectiveness at eliminating certain types of bacteria in a given time frame. Chlorine is an EPA-registered disinfectant, for example.
Hydrogen peroxide on its own is not classified as a disinfectant for pools and spas. It is registered as a hard surface disinfectant for other applications. But it is not strong enough by itself to meet the level of cleanliness sought after in float tank water treatment.
For the purposes of this article, H202 is an oxidizer that, when combined with UV light disinfection, burns up the organic materials left behind by the UV light blast. They work well as a pair because they have a synergistic effect. UV can kill cryptosporidium, giardia and other dangerous diseases with ease in a single pass.
There is also a chemical reaction that takes place when these two interact, creating compounds called hydroxyl radicals that can kill viruses and bacteria. Taken all together, the ultraviolet light mechanism stops the reproduction of bacteria, the hydroxyl radicals break down their cell components and the hydrogen peroxide clears the debris.
This multipronged approach makes the UV and H202 system far superior to using chlorine and bromine to disinfect tanks, which is the traditional method in the float industry. Another major difference in use is that chlorine and bromine affect the whole basin, whereas the UV device hooked onto the filter targets what passes through the filtration system during turnovers.
One thing to note is that the UV light can kill microorganisms, but it will not take out the ammonia or organic molecules ordinarily destroyed by chlorine. Ammonia, organics and urea are compounds that appear in floatation tanks as a result of sweat, body oil, hair oil and urine.
However, advanced oxidation processes—aka hydroxyl radicals—do get rid of them. So does ozone, which is another commonly used oxidizer with UV. It is part of floating protocol for users to have to shower before a float, thereby limiting the presence of organics in the tanks altogether.
When we talk about UV lights in the form of sanitation, there are two types of systems—low and medium—depending on the flow meter reading of a tank’s pump system and the size of the tank. It is important not to use undersized or underpowered UV systems on tanks.
In terms of performance, UV disinfection systems—when used as the primary mode of disinfection—must meet the three-log reduction of bacteria efficacy standard, in accordance with NSF/ANSI 50-2016.
Another key to successful UV disinfection is to get an effective UV transmission (UVT) range, which can be impacted by turbidity—or how clear the tank water is—though the expectation is that this would not be an issue with functioning filtering equipment and regular cleaning. Novel UV units tend to have calibrated sensors (that have gone through testing) to produce strong UVT.
All in all, the UV and H2O2 system is a powerful matrix that has wide-ranging and powerful effects on sanitation processes in floatation facilities, and more benefits than UV disinfection by itself or H2O2 by itself.
