Background: Rhabditidae is a family of free-living nematodes. Free living nematodes due to their active movement and resistance to chlorination, do not remove in conventional water treatment processes thus can be entered to distribution systems and cause adverse health effects. Ultraviolet radiation (UV) can be used as a method of inactivating for these organisms. This cross sectional study was done to investigate the efficiency of ultraviolet lamp in the inactivation of free living nematode in water.
Methods: The effects of radation time, turbidity, pH and temperature were investigated in this study. Ultraviolet lamp used in this study was a 11 W lamp and intensity of this lamp was 24 m w/cm².
Results: Radiation time required to achieve 100% efficiency for larvae nematode and adults was 9 and 10 minutes respectively. There was a significant correlation between the increase in radiation time, temperature rise and turbidity reduction with inactivation efficiency of lamp (P<0.001). Increase of turbidity up 25 NTU decreased inactivation efficiency of larvae and adult nematodes from 100% to 66% and 100% to 64% respectively. Change in pH range from 6 to 9 did not affect the efficiency of inactivation. With increasing temperature inactivation rate increased. Also the effect of the lamp on inactivation of larvae nematod was mor than adults.
Conclusions: It seems that with requiring the favorable conditions low-pressure ultraviolet radiation systems can be used for disinfection of water containing Rhabitidae nematode.