Ozone Water Treatment

In a world with billions of inhabitants the need for water treatment is one of great importance. It is also an industry that continually strives to find better, more efficient and cost-effective means of eliminating waste and harmful components from water so that it can be reused. There are a number of ways to make water safe for industrial application or human consumption. Drinking water is often cleaned using Chloramine, a common method but one with inherent dangers and benefits. One method of disinfection is ozone water treatment, a way to disinfect water that eliminates the majority of dangers in Chloramine.

Making Ozone

Ozone is created by taking oxygen (O2) and passing it through a high voltage potential. This results in the addition of a third oxygen atom and creates O3, which is ozone. One of the main benefits to ozone water treatment is the ability to manufacture it on demand. Because ozone can be created as needed, the danger of an industrial accident is greatly reduced. In addition, ozone leaves fewer disinfection byproducts in the water treated than does Chloramine.

There are other methods of disinfection as well, such as using UV (Ultraviolet) light to kill germ-causing organisms in water. Ozone is a very unstable agent that oxidizes any organic material it contacts. This destroys most disease-causing microorganisms. The biggest drawback to ozone water treatment systems is cost, which at this point is greater than many other methods. Also the technicians that operate ozone water treatment systems must be highly and specially trained to perform their jobs safely and well; this limits the available work force and adds an additional cost beyond operations.

In a very public demonstration on the effectiveness of ozone for water treatment, Copenhagen's Tivoli Park installed a system in a huge artificial lake. The lake is a major feature with hundreds of gold fish and carp for visitors to see. Unfortunately, it was not designed with water recirculation capabilities -- an oversight that led to significant algae bloom and murkiness that made the lake an eyesore. By installing the ozone system in the lake and keeping the fish in while it went to work, the Copenhagen park soon had a clear lake again -- proving the effectiveness and safety of ozone water treatment systems.