About Ozone

1. Ozone was discovered by Christian Schonbein in the 1840's.He smelled a unique odor during electrolysis and electrical sparking experiments.He recognized the odor as the same odor observed after a lightning flash.Schonbein named the substance"ozone" after the Greek word"ozein".
2. For the past 140 years,ozone has been used for municipal drinking and waste water treatment.In 1906,Nice,France built the first water purification plant to utilize ozone.
3. Since 1984,all Olympic Games Competition Swimming Pools have been sanitized with ozone.
4. Ozone has been used for 65 plus years to purify commercial swimming pool and spa water-worldwide.
5. The Metropolitan Water District (MWD) located in Los Angeles,California,has one of the largest municipal ozone water treatment plants in the world.
6. The International Bottled Water Association (IBWA) bottled water specification regarding ozone has been in use since 1982.Ninety percent (90%) of bottled water is treated with ozone.

What is Ozone?

Ozone is a very active form of oxygen.It is formed when oxygen is exposed to a high-energy field causing some oxygen molecules(O2) to break down to oxygen atoms(O).The oxygen atoms (O) then react with the oxygen molecules (O2) to form ozone (O3).Notice that this is a reversible reaction meaning that ozone can decompose back to oxygen.

How does ozone work?

Ozone,sometimes called"activated oxygen",because ozone (O3) is very unstable and likes to turn back to pure oxygen(O2),it can oxidize with all kinds of materials.The extra atom of oxygen destroys odor,virus,moulds and bacteria in addition to oxidizing pollutants.Ozone is possibly the greatest purifcation element we have available to deal with man-made pollutants.
Otherwise inhalable airborne toxins(nitrates,sulfates,auto emissions and more) from your breathable air.

Is ozone found in nature?

Yes,ozone is formed by lightning.
In nature,ozone is produced by the action of lightning on the oxygen found in the air.The formation of ozone leads to the fresh smell that you find outside after a lighting storm.One type of ozone generator,known as the corona discharge type,mimics this natural process in its ozone generating cells.
Yes,ozone is found in the Earth's stratosphere.
Also,the ozone layer found in the upper stratosphere protects the earth's surface from harmful UV rays.UV rays cleave oxygen molecules into oxygen atoms which recombine to form ozone.UV rays also excite ozone molecules causing them to breakdown to oxygen to begin the cycle again.In this way,the energy of the UV rays is absorbed by the "ozone layer" protecting the Earth's surface from their harmful effects.UV-type ozone generators mimic this natural process.

What can ozone be used for?

The very reactive nature of ozone makes it the ideal oxidant for air and water treatment.Ozone will:

1. Destroy bacertia and viruses
2. Precipitate heavy metals(example iron and manganese) allowing them to be filtered
3. Eliminate colour from water (for example,like the yellowish colour caused by tannin)
4. Remove rotten egg smell from water (caused by hydrogen sulfide)
5. Oxidise organic compounds to form compounds that can be easily flocculated and filtered or to form water (H2O) and carbon dioxide(CO2)
6. Eliminate bad odours from air

Applications include pool & spa treatment,home drinking water treatment,irrigation water treatment,smoke odour elimitation from air,seafood storage..... the list goes on and on
The collage below shows but a few areas where ozone has been used successfully to improve water and air quality and to improve industrial processes.