Ozonisation

Ozone (O₃) is an oxygen molecule with three atoms instead of the two for the oxygen in the air we breathe (O₂).

Ozone is generated by exposing O₂ to UV light that is generally produced by electrical discharge. The ozone is then mixed into the water to be treated. The third oxygen atom is only loosely held to the O₂ and will break away, attach itself to the other substances in the water and oxidize many of them, leaving no potentially harmful residuals. A graphical explanation is found below:

Ozone's oxidative efficiency is several times higher than the one of chlorine, while its application is absolutely harmless. Its residual effect is minimal.

Ozone therefore has been emerging as the most efficient and ecologically sound oxidant to treat both organic and some inorganic substances in water. In addition to these primary treatment tasks, ozone has a deodorizing and bleaching effect on the purified water.

It can serve as a standalone treatment method for contaminated sweet water when a multitude of bacteria, spores, viruses and/or pesticides, chemicals, fertilizers, etc. need to be destroyed. It can also serve as a post treatment method following desalination and other filtration processes where particle or solute contaminants have been removed, yet residual contaminants that have passed through the filtration device need to be destroyed in a post treatment step.