Decontamination of water by excimer UV radiation

Water is one of the most important substances on which life depends. However, water may also serve as a medium by which disease is spread to humans, animals, and plants. Therefore, the biological decontamination of this vital substance is of paramount importance. Several methods have been used to decontaminate water and assure its clean supply. Unfortunately, most of these methods use potentially hazardous chemicals, which require proper storage and transport and are not environmentally friendly. Here we present a decontamination method based on the use of UV radiation emitted by the decay of excimers generated by a nonequilibrium discharge operating in the high-pressure regime. We found that at an appropriate wavelength, this type of UV radiation has a devastating effect on micro-organisms. Index Terms--Bacteria, discharge, excimer, ultraviolet, water.