Why Use Ozone to Treat Iron, Manganese, Sulfur Odor & Bacteria?

Ozone is a gas generated onsite by an ozone generator.  While chlorine is commonly used in well water to treat iron, manganese, and odors, it can leave a chlorine taste and odor in the water.

Chlorination systems require fresh chlorine to be regularly added, often once a month whereas ozone generators continue to work for years with little maintenance.  You can have a more automatic system with less maintenance when you use ozone to treat iron.

Ozone has a greater ability to disinfect water with bacteria and viruses compared to chlorination.  In addition, the oxidizing properties combined with filtration after ozone injection removes iron, manganese and sulfur odors quickly without the use of additional chemicals.

Ozone oxidizes the iron, manganese, and sulfur in the water to form insoluble metal oxides or elemental sulfur.  These insoluble particles are then removed through post-filtration, typically activated carbon, manganese dioxide, or other filter media.

Ozone is faster at killing bacteria and oxidizing iron and manganese compared to chlorine or peroxide.  For example, the CT value (Concentrate of the oxidizer multiplied by the Time in minutes) for disinfecting water of viruses is 6. Which are 6 minutes at 1 PPM chlorine concentration? Whereas for ozone the CT value is less than 1.

This varies, of course, depending on the water temperature and pH, but it gives a good illustration of how ozone works faster.

Ozone is quite unstable, and it will degrade over a time frame ranging from a few seconds to 30 minutes. The rate of how fast it will degrade is a function of water chemistry, pH, and water temperature.  This means that after ozone is injected it quickly breaks down into oxygen and leaves no chemical tastes or residues.