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I don't have the extensive knowledge that Bill has but .....Ozone is a gas to my knowledge. It's chemical composition is 3 oxygen atoms.It doesn't "seek and destroy", it needs to bump into the bugs to be effective……..It needs to be at a certain concentration to allow enough ozone atoms to bump into the bugs to destroy them. ……..Can they work - I believe they can……I run it for the "just in case" syndrome - IF it does anything……I still rely on chlorine to do it's part and at 2-3 ppm, it's effective. And by the time I get back into my tub, I'm usually soaking in close to 0 chlorine
I simply take exception to people (dealers mostly) that lead consumers to beleive that an ozonator or salt system results in a "chemical free" environment. Ozone is a chemical, but you are right it does dissolve in the water quickly. It does not add to TDS directly like a granular oxidizer does…Using an ozonator, especially on a 24 hour circ pump, will raise pH which will result in more chemicals to fix the pH. It is true also that some granular oxidizers will also change pH (MPS 2.3, Lithchlor 10.. Dichlor and its bromine cousin are pH neutral (7).
I would like to cover just a few points that have been made in this thread.Bromine is not pH neutral, it is quite acidic.The cost savings from ozonators has never been quantified, documented, or published in any credible journal as far as I know……. An ozonator is nice to have anyway. It is another tool in our arsenal of tools to control bacteria. Ozone or O3 is not very easily dissolved in water. And it bubbles out and is lost quickly to the atmosphere. O3 is not stable so it does not stay as O3 for long. It is looking to get rid of that extra oxygen atom and to revert to the inherently stable O2 that we breathe. What makes it such a powerful oxidizer is exactly that it is eager to give up it's extra oxygen atom. It could be said to be an extremely aggressive chemical. There is no more reactive oxidizer known. Regards,Bill
If ozone is a more powerful oxidizer, sanitizer than di-chlor or bromine, then why is it that we must use chlorine or bromine if we were able to introduce the proper amount of ozone?
Whether ozone is a chemical or not remains to be a point of conjecture,
BUT it does NOT dissolve in water, because it is a derivative of oxygen, which is a gaseous form of air.
However, if there are no other molecules of mineral, nutrient, bacteria or viruses contained within the water the water is in its purist form, and it remains to be a gaseous form of an air bubble, it will go airborne and remain an active molecule of ozone until such time it “contacts and destroys” another molecule extracting a like atom.
My Marquis dealer told me to make sure I increase the filter times and decrease the level of bromine to .05 ppm I still have to wait to see if this stands true. Waiting for hand to heal and get my pad set up etc...
Anyone is welcome to chime in here: when I take the cover off there is a chemical smell but its not strong. It would be wonderful to have no smell at all. Is that realistic?
If you want to soak with less of a "chemical smell", I highly suggest you do away with bromine altogether as by nature it'll always seem that way with that method.
Phil,with bromine you have a residual most of the time it is used with a feeder of some type so you do not have to spoon feed your spa after use ...for many it can be almost like a set and forget it thing...which by the way is of course not the best action ....
Any bromine zealots want to argue this? Does a spa using bromine always have a chemical smell? Why would anyone want to use bromine if there is always an odor? Is it cheaper or a better sanitizer than dichlor? Phil