Industrial strength UV water sterilizer
 

I found a potentially unlimited source of free used industrial strength 1.6kw UV water sterilization tubes.
From what I have been able to find out about these is at full power they sterilize water at around 300gpm per tube.
With the power source they are supposed to have they can run variable power from 20 or 25% up to 100%.
So if 100% = 1.6kw then 25% should be about 400w.
They start with up to a thousand or so volts and at full power use around 7 to 8 amps at 200v.
I powered one up with a microwave oven transformer and varrac. But this only allows me ton run it up to about 10% power, because the microwave oven transformer is a high voltage low current constant voltage power supply.
So I need a constant power source, like a pulse start metal halide ballast transformer.
I'm thinking about getting a 1,000w pulse start metal halide ballast transformer for HID lighting.
The plasma composition, electrode distance of the UV bulb versus a standard metal halide bulb are all fairly close.
The ballast transformer is a constant power source so it will start at high voltage then drop down the voltage and increase amps until it's only trying to push around 1000 watts.

I got the 1000w light ballast in.
The place I ordered it from sent the wrong one, I ordered a pulse start ballast set, they sent a non plus start for self ignition bulbs.
But I wired it up it works. I just wanted the pulse start to remove any possibility of the bulb not igniting. Luckily the lamp has such low internal resistance when cold that the 440 open current volts developed by the ballast are enough to ignite the bulb.

The UV put off by this lamp actually creates Ozone, in sufficient quality to where I can smell it.

Wow, that sounds interesting. You should post some pics.
That high voltage stuff is scary. Never liked working on my HV ham radio stuff.
One good zap of 800 vdc from a 400ma supply was all it took for me.

Does the 1kw ballast run cool with the lamp for a while?

I have pictures, problem is I can't down size them very well on my phone.
I can check the ballast with my flir, I don't think it's getting very hot.

I took my tube up to full power with a 1.5kw ballast with 240v power hooked up to the 208v taps.
Pushed 7.7 amps through the tube.
Running at full power it stinks of Ozone.
I checked the ballast running 240v on the 208 taps with my flir it was running about +30°F higher than ambient.

I scored 6 more of these bulbs so I should be all set.

Looks like these bulbs have found their calling. We found a place we are going to buy that has a disused well. My wife is worried about fertilizer, herbicides and pesticides leaching into the ground water there.

So I'm going to get it tested. Then pump it into a holding tank and UV the crap out of it. The ionizing UV radiation will destroy organic molecules if applied in sufficient qualities.
Then what the UV doesn't destroy the Ozone will oxidize.
Anything left will be passed through a charcoal filter or 2.