Home Improvment : Ozonator Reduces Pool Chemicals
QUESTION: The chlorine in my swimming pool and spa is expensive and irritates my eyes and skin. Does it use much electricity to operate an ozone-gas pool purification system? What is ozone gas and is it harmful?
ANSWER: The cost to operate an ozonator for a swimming pool is about the same as operating a 100- to 150-watt light bulb and less for a small spa. Depending on the ozonator size, it can reduce the need for pool chemicals from 50% to 95%, and provide a much cleaner and healthier pool or spa.
Ozone gas is extremely effective for controlling bacteria and virus. It has been used for purifying water since the 1890s and it is not harmful. Drinking water is often purified with ozone. Chlorine chemicals can react with others chemicals and impurities in water to form eye- and skin-irritating chloramines and other cancer-causing compounds.
Ozone is often called “active oxygen.” It is naturally produced in the upper atmosphere when sunlight passes through the air. For swimming pools and spas, it is most often produced by passing air past an ultraviolet light in a sealed chamber. This ozone-rich air is discharged into the pool water as it circulates through the existing filter system.
In addition to reducing the irritation from chlorine chemical treatment, ozone produces a fresh, sweet smell like after a storm. The lightning in a storm naturally produces ozone gas. The life of ozone gas is very short, about 20 minutes. Then it converts back to natural pure oxygen.
Since ozone is a strong natural oxidizing agent, your swimming pool or spa water stays very clear and not foamy. Ozone causes the minute particles that cause cloudiness to coagulate. Then they are large enough to be cleaned out by the pool filter.
Ozonators for large pools use several ultraviolet lights in the chamber or use a corona-discharge method (like lightning). The lights have a life of 14,000 hours, about three to four years for normal pool operation.
An ozonator is small and simple to add to a pool. A small flexible tube runs from the light chamber to the filter plumbing to introduce the ozone into the water. It can be set up to run when the filter is running or by a timer. There also is a portable ozone unit that plugs into a wall electric outlet. You hang the ozone diffuser tube over the side of the spa.
During times of heavy pool or spa use, or if you select a smaller ozonator system, you may still need to use some chemicals. Ozone is compatible with standard pool purifying chemicals.
You can write to me for Utility Bills Update No. 337 showing a list of manufacturers of pool and spa purifying ozonators, and detailed information on both a spa-sized and a swimming pool-sized ozonator. Please include $1 and a self-addressed business-size envelope. Send your requests to James Dulley, c/o Los Angeles Times, 6906 Royalgreen Drive, Cincinnati, Ohio 45244.
