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The Ultimate Guide to Ozone Well Water Treatment

The treatment of well water with ozone is one of the most cost-effective and reliable options available.  The ozone will revert to oxygen and will be perfectly safe to drink without adding any chemicals or salts. An ozone well water treatment system can be developed to provide well water treatment for small to medium sized residential and agricultural systems. Chemicals or salt are not necessary to solve most water quality issues. 

ozone-well-water-treatment

In addition to saving you money, this will provide you and your family with safer, and better quality drinking water.

Using an ozone system, it is simplest to eradicate iron, sulfur, and manganese from water. Ozone’s oxidative power makes this possible. As part of the ozone oxidation process, the system must be sized based on the amount of iron, sulfur, and manganese in the water, the well pump’s gallons per minute (gpm), and the quantity of water consumed per day (gpd). In addition to these, there are a number of other factors to consider.

  • Are there contaminants in the water?
  • What is the flow rate?
  • How much water is being used?

It is critical to first understand what oxidation means before you can understand how ozone accomplishes its task. By combining with or adding oxygen, oxides change their form, and electrons are lost, increasing the valence of an element.  

By oxidizing the organic material in bacteria’s membranes, oxygen kills bacteria by causing cell walls to weaken and rupture. As a result, the organism is exposed to the external environment, leading to the death of its cells almost immediately.

The Process of Well Water Ozonation

Three simple steps are involved in the ozone process.

1. Injection of ozone

The oxidizing power of ozone is very high since it is triatomic oxygen (O3). The gas is a byproduct of high-voltage electricity and air. Each drop of water is saturated with tiny bubbles of ozone when the ozone is injected into it. This is the point at which iron, sulfur and manganese begin to oxidize.

2. Aeration

‘Aeration’ is defined as the process of removing gasses/odors, including ozone, from an enclosed area (off-gassing). It involves stripping ozone from an enclosed space. Water from the off gas tank combines with ozonated water, which strips the gas from incoming water as it flows down. Venting devices are available in two varieties. Float type venting devices that only release gas and electric self-cleaning venting devices. Electric self-cleaning venting devices require less maintenance than float type.

3. Filtration

 In order to remove oxidized material, filtration must be performed. There are several types of filtration options available. The goal is to use a medium that does not require chemicals during regeneration, has a low water waste rate (backwash), and has a high service flow and removal capability. There is no need for Birm, Greensand, or Centaur filters; mechanical filtration is sufficient.

Ozone for Disinfection

ozone-disinfection

When compared to chlorine, ozone is more effective at disinfecting well water. When disinfecting water with chlorine or ozone, sufficient residual levels of the chlorine or ozone in mg/L (the same as parts per million or PPM) must be present in the water, AND there must be adequate minutes of contact time for the chlorine or ozone to do its job.

It is also important to understand water chemistry.  When chlorine or ozone are used to disinfect your well water, the pH of the water (how acidic or alkaline it is) along with turbidity and other contaminants will all have an effect.

The oxidation of iron and manganese by ozone is more rapid than that of chlorine or peroxide. The CT value for disinfecting water against viruses is 6 (the concentration of the oxidizer multiplied by the time it takes in minutes). The time is 6 minutes when chlorine is 1 part per million. Lastly, the CT value for chlorine is above 1.0 (1 PPM with a minute of contact time), so it takes longer for chlorine or peroxide to disinfect and oxidize than ozone.

Must Check Out: Top Commercial Ozone Generators

This varies, of course, depending on the water temperature and the pH of the water, but it illustrates the fact that ozone works faster, thus eliminating the need for a large contact tank and the equipment needed to do the job.

With ozone equipment, you do not have to worry about ongoing chemical costs or space requirements like with chlorination. Ozone provides consumers with numerous advantages over chlorine, such as eliminating hazardous chlorine byproducts, storing hazardous chemicals, eliminating chemical odors, and not requiring constant replenishment of chlorine dispensers. It is difficult and requires extreme amounts of free chlorine to kill iron bacteria, sulfur bacteria, or manganese (or any microorganism).  

Ozone vs. Air Injection

ozonated-water-applications

Injecting air presents a number of challenges. Despite being a cheap treatment, it is not suitable for high amounts of iron and sulfur or when iron or sulfur bacteria are present. The presence of air will encourage growth of iron and sulfur bacteria. As a result, equipment, media, and pipes clog. Manganese is more difficult and far more resistant to air oxidation.

Another issue is safety. What is the best way to ensure that the air is safe for you? Is it safe for you to inject? Will water be safe for you? Air injectors cannot be used when using water. Dust, dirt, mold, bacteria, odors and everything else in the air around the injector will be condensed or pumped into the water. When injected into water, ozone sterilizes the water and kills any microbes that are in the air.

An ozone system is beneficial for well water treatment because it reduces service calls, accelerates oxidation, removes iron, sulfur, and manganese from the system, and increases profitability.

It is important to note that the size, price, design, performance, and required maintenance of ozone systems vary. Make sure you choose the one that is most appropriate to the application and your understanding and abilities. You can check out our best ozone machines for water treatment here.

Bottom Line

In summary, ozone results in the elimination of larger particles of iron, sulfur, and manganese due to oxidation. When the larger particles separate from the water (become insoluble), they are filtered. Excess ozone, air, and odors are released by off gassing. For the oxidized particles to be removed, filtration is the last step. The entire system will not function properly without choosing the right ozone generator according to the requirements. All things considered, among all natural oxidizers and disinfectants of practical use, ozone is the most potent and powerful.  

What next? You can explore best ozone generators for water treatment here and get the right equipment according to your needs. You can also let us know if you need recommendations about choosing the ozone generator.

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