The Ozonation Process

Ozone is created using an ozone generator. This exposes a stream of air to either UV light or to a high voltage electrical discharge, the method known as corona discharge. The corona discharge method is typically preferred and takes place by breaking apart the two oxygen atoms of an oxygen molecule (O 2 ), then charging one of those atoms to another oxygen molecule, thus creating ozone (O 3 ) molecules. Unfortunately, ozone cannot be stored or packaged because of its instability. Its effectiveness will depend on CT, which will be explained later.
In a water treatment application, the raw water passes through a venturi injector, which creates a vacuum and pulls the ozone gas into the water. An alternate method is bubble diffusion, where air bubbles up through the water being treated. Since the ozone will react with other contaminants or metals to create insoluble metal oxides, post filtration is sometimes required.