What is Ozone Water

What is Ozone Water?

Ozone water is drinking water that has been purified through an ozone-based sterilization process. Ozone is similar to oxygen, O2, except that it has an additional oxygen molecule making it O3. It is a form of oxygen called allotropic and is an extremely powerful oxidizing agent. When ozone is dissolved in water it can be leveraged as a broad spectrum biocide, destroying all cysts, viruses, bacteria, and other pathogens. It was first used in the treatment of commercially available water in 1904.

Ozone is created for sterilization and commercial use, just as it is in the natural world. Ozone is created when electricity is discharged through an oxygen source. Ozone is manufactured by modern ozone generators, which feature an oxygenated gas source that is then energized by a high voltage stream. This splits each O2 molecule into a pair of common oxygen atoms. These recombine back into oxygen, O2, and ozone, O3.

Since ozone is such a potent sanitizing option, it is often the primary choice in many applications where direct contact with food or drink is needed. Ozone can kill any biological material such as mold or bacteria, without posing a hazard to those who will eventually consume the products.

Some generators also increase the purity of the oxygen in the gas source, some even using pure oxygen in order to get the highest concentration of ozone possible. Ozone can also be created by some specialized types of ultraviolet lights. These lights, however, are not able to produce high concentration and are often used for passive sterilization techniques. Since ozone cannot be easily contained or transported due to its high level of reactivity, it is usually produced in the location where it is needed.

Because ozone is so reactive and is a powerful biocide, it is used as the most powerful oxidizing agent permitted to be used on human drinking water. It is more than 50% stronger than simple chlorine treatment, and it works more than three times as fast. This is due to the incredibly damaging effect ozone has on biological life. It weakens the cells of living tissue and causes immediate cell death.

Benefits of Drinking Water That Has Been Purified with Ozone

Because of the unique and immediate method of interaction with the cellular structure of organic cells, ozone is able to quickly, effectively, and simply killing all algae, bacteria, parasites, viruses, pathogens, and other biological material, with absolutely zero risks of building up any immunity in the microscopic or macroscopic ecosystem.

This is incredibly important for organisms such as Giardia, Cryptosporidium, Streptococcus Fecalis, and E. Coli, which are not only highly problematic for humans to ingest but are rapidly gaining immunity to various antibiotics and sterilizing treatments. All of these agents can be swiftly destroyed by effective ozone treatment of the water, with an extremely wide pH range of water able to be treated with equal effectiveness.

Of course, there is the benefit of not having dangerous microorganisms in your water, but there are many microorganisms that aren’t necessarily dangerous, but undesirable. Many bacteria just make your water smell or taste a little “off”. When these agents are removed, they stop creating their by-products of taste or oil.

One of the best things about ozone-treated water is the absolute safety of it. The process of ozone oxidation is completely natural, and completely eliminates the need for complex chemical water treatments. It is used around the world in situations where water must be quickly and positively sterilized.

Ozone is highly reactive with organic materials, and due to this, it is not able to remain stable once it has been dissolved in water. At more or less room temperature, ozone will naturally decay to nearly undetectable levels in less than 30 minutes. This is one of the reasons it is perfect for the killing of biological agents in bottled water since the automatic decomposition property means it doesn’t leave any trace behind after use.

Dissolved ozone has a pH of a neutral 7.0, and will not affect the water pH balance. Due to its tendency to oxidize most things, ozone will reduce trace amounts of manganese, iron, copper, and some other dissolved metals. It does this by reacting with them to raise them to their highest oxidation state, allowing them to form a precipitate and be removed with simple particle filtration.

The environmental benefits of using ozone are many. Since the process is entirely natural, there are no pollutants or hazardous materials left over after the process completes. Any wastewater used in ozone production is considered safe, and can be discarded anywhere, and can even be used in greywater applications.

Since no chemicals are needed, the reduction in chemical containment infrastructure can cut operational costs and investments. There is also the complete removal of all risks associated with chemical use, such as possible spills, injuries, and contamination. When no dangerous chemicals are being used, the company also doesn’t need to spend valuable training dollars on hazmat and chemical handling training and certifications.

How to Find Water That Has Been Treated With Ozone

There are hundreds of potential bottled water choices out there, but many use simple municipal or spring water, that is filtered and bottled. Some use spring water, which aside from needing complex filtering can be unbalanced and even acidic due to pollutants. When you look for bottled water that is going to be healthy but also is keeping an eye toward environmentally sustainable production, there some manufacturers out there striving to produce the most sustainable and healthy eco-minded bottled water. Harvested directly from the clouds that give us the gift of rain, the water is then treated with an ozone process that not only ensures that there are no biological agents or pathogens, but also the removal of all bad taste and smell-causing bacteria. The result is the best-tasting, cleanest, and healthiest bottled water on earth.