Ozone In Godzone

Widely used through out the world, ozone is a safe effective and environmentally friendly method for the treatment of water with a wide range of applications.

Ozone Technologies Limited is a Napier based company with over ten years experience in the Ozone industry. The company designs and builds ozone generating units for mainly industrial applications, such as potable (drinking) water, waste water treatment from tanneries, water recovery in the dairy industry, swimming pools, aquariums, water purification in breweries and soft drink manufactures.

Ozone (O 3 ) is generated from oxygen (O 2 ) by an electrical process known as "corona discharge". When dissolved in water at extremely low concentrations it kills the bugs so effectively there's no trace of the cells; it then reverts back to harmless oxygen. The gas must be produced on site as it has a very short half-life of about 20 minutes in water.

In 1997 ozone was accepted as meeting the New Zealand standard for drinking water as the preferred option for killing Cryptosporidium and Giardia, thought to be present in half our fresh water sources and against which chlorine is increasingly ineffectual.

Ozone use in swimming pools is an advantage to swimmers who find chlorinated water unpleasant. The use of ozone treatment in conjunction with filtration in public swimming pools, results in the reduction of chlorine concentration by 80 percent.

Applications of ozone are much wider than other water purification methods. It destroys -amongst other things - bacteria, viruses, algae, heavy metals, detergents and pesticides and removes colour, odour and taste from water. Depending on the micro-organism it is treating, ozone can be more than 3,000 times faster than chlorine and 5,000 times faster than bromine as a disinfectant.

All bottled water in New Zealand is ozone treated to maintain purity while overseas Ozone Technologies has installed ozone generating plants in aquariums in Beijing and Xiamen in China and Birmingham in the UK .

With the world focusing on Clean and Green, Ozone Technology is a very viable option.

ozone in it's role as a disinfectant...

Ozone is a powerful oxidant that destroys micro-organisms through an irreversible physicochemical action. Ozone does not have to penetrate the body of the micro-organism to inactivate it. On the contrary, the action of ozone is instantaneous and irreversible, first on the micro-organisms’ protective wall and then on the semi-permeable membrane .

Such action modifies the chemical structure of the micro-organism microorganisms to "suffocate" to death or inactivation. The protective wall and the semi-permeable membrane are composed of molecules that are very rich in electron sites . This favours a very selective, and therefore efficient, action of ozone, presenting extremely rapid kinetics (the corresponding half-life time of ozone is in the order of a second).

Ozone is the name given to the tri-atomic form of oxygen, disinfecting with nothing other than oxygen atoms .

facts about ozone ...

  • Ozone is produced from oxygen molecules (02 ) excited to a higher energy level, which produces unstable individual oxygen atoms (0 1 ). When the single atoms come together again, a small percentage combine with other oxygen molecules, thus forming ozone (0 1 +0 2 = 0 3 ). Because ozone is an unstable gas with a short half-life, it must be generated on site.
  • Ozone is a very powerful oxidizing agent, 50% stronger than chlorine and 90% stronger than bromine, as an oxidant. .
  • As a disinfectant, ozone can be more than 3,000 times faster than chlorine and 5,000 times faster than bromine.
  • In air , ozone reverts back to oxygen; the half-life is about 12 hours, depending on temperature; and it is heavier than air and can be detected within about 100mm of the water surface. The maximum permissible level of ozone in air (for a continual eight hour working shift) is 0.1 ppm.
  • In water , the half-life of ozone is about 20 to 25 minutes, and it is important that it be contacted with water in such a manner as to maximize its rapid dissolution.
  • Disinfection within in-line static mixers can occur within a contact time of less than two seconds.
  • Micro-organisms tend to concentrate at the gas-liquid surface of a bubble due to their surface-active properties and are therefore exposed to higher levels of ozone concentrations than are found in the bulk of the water in residual form. The degree of micro-organism inactivation is greatly improved for a system containing both ozone bubbles and an ozone residual compared to a system having only an ozone residual.
  • Ozone has been proved to be extremely effective at controlling the Legionella bacteria (far more than chlorine), in both air conditioning water cooling towers and potable waters.
  • Disinfection by ozone occurs by the rupture or disintegration of the bacteria cell wall in a process called cell lysing. Chlorine diffuses through the cell wall and results in death by attack of enzymes. This process can take minutes or hours.
Ozone in food processing applications...
Ozone is a natural, and therefore safe natural purification agent that cleans the environment from natural and unnatural contamination of air, food and water supplies. It is a strongly occurring oxidizing and disinfecting agent. Ozone is a compound in which three atoms of oxygen are combined to form a molecule O3
Ozone is FDA approved, and is considered safe for processing food and water. Ozone does not leave any toxic by-products or residues and is non-carcinogenic.
Being an unstable gas its life span is about 20 minutes in water, depending on the temperature. In gas phase use it’s half life is up to 24 hours, providing around the clock protection from airborne pathogens in production facilities. After completing its job, it reverts back to oxygen. This means ozone has to be produced on site.
The reduction and control of pathogens is essential on fresh food products like meats, fish, fruits and vegetables. Bacteria, molds, spores, viruses and other single-cell creatures cause spoilage of fresh foods and decreases shelf life. Ozone is the only safe and natural alternative for foods. Ozone has many capabilities; destroying bad fish odors, bringing out the color in Red Snapper. Bacterial slime on bacon, fish, links and other meats are almost eliminated with Ozone.
Ozone is safer than other products in the industry for consumers and workers, and very effective in the control of bacteria. Ozone can enhance the taste of some foods by oxidizing chemicals, pesticides and by neutralizing ammonia and ethylene off gases produced by ripening. Ozone changes the chemicals complex molecular structure back to its safe and original basic elements.
Ozone has been used to treat groundwater and surface water to prepare drinking water and swimming pool waters in Europe since 1906. It is estimated that more than 3,000 water treatment plants use ozone today; more than 200 of these are in the U.S.A.
Ozone is a powerful oxidizing agent and should be treated cautiously. Like other oxidizing gases, ozone is toxic above certain concentrations. Ozone has had an excellent safety record over its more than 100 year history of use. Operating ozone-generating equipment can be relatively safe, with respect to exposure, when compared to other gaseous oxidants such as chlorine. The pungent odor of ozone, which will alert an individual to exposure, is well below dangerous levels.
The United States Office of Water EPA has determined that for water treatment:
The most effective chemical disinfectant, overall, in terms of total pathogen inactivation, is ozone. Ozone is an extremely strong disinfectant and has excellent inactivation efficiencies for bacteria, viruses, and Giardia.
Microbial and Disinfection Byproduct Rules Simultaneous Compliance Guidance Manual EPA 815-R-99-015 Ozone is produced from oxygen molecules (O3) excited to a higher energy level, which produces unstable individual oxygen atoms (O1). When the single atoms come together again, a percentage combine with other oxygen molecules, thus forming ozone. Ozone is a very powerful oxidising agent, 50% stronger than chlorine and 90% stronger than Bromine, as a disinfectant. As a disinfectant , ozone can react up to 3,000 times faster than chlorine and 5,000 times faster than bromine. In air, ozone reverts back to oxygen; the half life is about 12 hours, depending on temperature.In water the half-life of ozone is about 20 to 25 minutes.

Disinfection can occur within a contact time of less than two seconds.The maximum permissible levels of ozone in air (for a continual eight hour working shift) is 0.1 ppm. The STEL (short term exposure limit) is 0.5 ppm in air. Ozone can be detected at 0.01 ppm and therefore is considered intrinsically safe by the US EPA and US FDA. Micro-organisms tend to concentrate at the gas-liquid surface of a bubble due to their surface active properties and are exposed to higher levels of ozone concentrations than are found in the bulk of the water in residual form. The degree of micro-organism inactivation is greatly improved for systems containing both ozone bubbles and ozone residual compared to a system having only an ozone residual. Ozone has proved to be extremely effective at controlling Legionella bacteria (far more than chlorine), both air-conditioning water cooling towers and potable waters. Disinfection by ozone occurs by the rupturing or disintegration of the bacteria cell wall in a process called lysing. Chlorine diffuses through the cell wall and results in death by attack to enzymes. The process can take minutes or hours and leaves harmful by-products. In gaseous form, ozone is colourless.Ozone disinfects, oxidises most harmful chemicals, micro-flocs, removes odour/colour and leaves water free of most harmful by-products.
Aqueous Ozone has many purposes ...
  • Bacterial Disinfection – extremely effective against Legionella bacteria
  • Destruction of Viruses – Cysts (Guardia, Lamblia and Cryptosporidium)
  • Increased Settleability Characteristics – Protozoa parasite control
  • Oxidation of Soluble Iron, Maganese and other heavy materials
  • Oxidation of Soluble Iron, Maganese and other heavy materials
  • Oxidation of large, less degradable Organics into smaller more easily biodegradable molecules.

Oxidation Reactions:

  • Colour removal
  • Taste Removal
  • Odour Removal
  • Removal of Algae
  • Removal of Sulphides
  • Removal of CyanidesRemoval of Trihalomethane Precursors

Organics Oxidation:

  • Detergents
  • Pesticides
  • Phenols
  • Humic, Fulvic and Tannic acids
  • In gaseous form, ozone is colourless.

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