That's an interesting idea, but I'm pretty sure its impractical from the economic point of view, since such an irradiator would have to compete with a variety of commercial UV sterilizers of all sizes already on the market.
The one advantage a gamma sterilizer would have over a UV one is that the water would not need to be clean for the former to be effective -- UV sterilizers typically have reduced effectiveness in turbid water, as the bugs are shielded by bits of dirt.
Jaro
----- Original Message -----
From: Kai Kaletsch
To: RadSafe
Sent: Thursday, July 04, 2002 9:07 PM
Subject: Water Irradiation?
Not sure how aware the rest of the world is about this, but here in Canada there have been some issues with people getting sick or dying from bugs in the drinking water over the last couple of years. Water treatment has been a municipal issue but now the feds and provinces are getting more involved.
Some communities absolutely refuse to chlorinate their water. I was wondering if anyone knew what kind of dose it would take to kill the bugs in the water. Could that be achieved by putting some Cs-137 or Co-60 next to a water pipe? Would it cause the pipe to fall apart? Any side effects to the water?
I would just love to see someone propose that to one of these communities:)
Kai