Should I include Ozone in my purchase?

[J._McD]

From the Hot Tub Owner’s point of view and for the benefit of “lurking newbie’s”, what has your experience been with the use of Ozone and would you recommend Ozone to be a worthwhile consideration to be included in their purchase?  

Primarily for the interests of “newbie’s” lurking in the background, this forum is a beneficial resource to aide you in the Hot Tub shopping process.  Often times some of these issues are full of passion and conflicting opinions that “smoke out the truth”.  They focus your attention on what you need to know more about to make your own decisions.  These great debates can be both Subjective (based on somebody’s opinions or feelings rather than on facts or evidence), and/or Objective (free of any bias or prejudice caused by personal feelings).

On the subject of Ozone being used to aid in the process water management it is both beneficial and cost efficient to include in your purchase.  It has been demonstrated that ozone users do agree that it is helpful in maintaining water quality resulting in the use of less chemicals overall.  IT DOES NOT REPLACE THE NEED FOR CHEMICALS SANITIZERS, but it does minimize the need for chemicals including sanitizers, thus reducing your overall chemical cost and consumption.  It should definitely be included as an option, unless of course, the manufacturer has already included it as a standard item as many do.  It is worth the extra cost whether it is included in the price or as an added option IMHO.

Pay attention while you are shopping to get your dealer’s take on the subject while shopping.  Your experience with water quality management is important and is only going to be as good as their assistance.  In recent threads, this subject provokes great controversy, but consumer feedback indicates that it does in fact reduce chemical consumption, improves water quality and it makes your Hot Water experience much more enjoyable.

[wmccall]

I'm hoping to get a better handle on this soon. The next warm spell we get I'm going to open up the equipment compartment, find out what  brand of ozone I have, and what it takes to replace the CD component.  I don't think I would have noticed with or without it the first few months of ownership, but now that I have my regiment down, I think I will notice when I get it working again. (I'm assuming it isn't after almost 3 years.) I don't think I notice the ozone smell anymore when I open the cover.

[orlandoguy]

Probably not easy to describe, but what does ozone smell like?

[socal]

Probably not easy to describe, but what does ozone smell like?

youre right, it is hard to describe. thing is, i think everyone thinks it smells like something else.
i know when the unit is on (or just recently shut off) by smell......but i am having a hatrd time comig up with a way of describing it.

[orlandoguy]

I smell something like fresh linen, could that be it?

[Gomboman]

Good job J. Ozone to me smells like "Sweet Nectar".

[Spatech_tuo]

Probably not easy to describe, but what does ozone smell like?

If you live in an area that can have sudden sever thunder storms with lightning there is a smell after the storm stops. It is a strange "fresh" smell that is rather unique. Once you've smelled that you know what I mean. Your ozone won't be as strong but if you know what you're looking for the lightbulb will go on when you smell it in your tub.

[orlandoguy]

I live in Central Florida, the lightning capital of the world, so trust me, I know.

[Spatech_tuo]

I live in Central Florida, the lightning capital of the world, so trust me, I know.

I think you have the US title.

"Rwanda, Africa is the lightning capitol of the world, receiving nearly 2.5 times the amount of lightning as Florida"

http://www.thecomputerwizard.biz/lightning.htm

[J._McD]

Ozone, regardless if UV or CD has a sweet pungent odour to it.  You have smelled it many times before after a rainstorm and it does have the sweet smell of fresh air.  If you have an ozonator, you can pull off the clear supply tube at the check valve and sniff the tube or momentarily sip on the tube to taste.  That little bit that you would sip won't kill you, but it might take your bad breath away.  

[Vinny]

I smell something like fresh linen, could that be it?

Yes, that's the smell!

The question of to ozone or not is a hard question to answer. We all agree that Chlorine and Bromine work - no question about it but ozone is a mystery. I truely fence sit on this as I don't think it's as important as some will lead you to believe but use it in case it works.

I never smell that linen smell, I only use it 8 hours a day and yet it seems I have the same water quality as someone who runs it 24/7.  Or someone who doesn't use it at all.

When you look at how water treatment plants use ozone to purify drinking water, spa ozonators are nothing like them. They use 100% O2, air contains 21% O2 and they use multiple mixing chambers and monitoring equipment spas use possibly 1 mixing chamber (usually none) and the ozonator is just on.

I have softened my view from they don't work to it adds something. I haven't experimented, although maybe before I change the water in the Spring I'll turn the ozonator off and see if I have to use more chlorine to get the job done.

[tony]

Yes, that's the smell!

The question of to ozone or not is a hard question to answer. We all agree that Chlorine and Bromine work - no question about it but ozone is a mystery. I truely fence sit on this as I don't think it's as important as some will lead you to believe but use it in case it works.

I never smell that linen smell, I only use it 8 hours a day and yet it seems I have the same water quality as someone who runs it 24/7.  Or someone who doesn't use it at all.

I've had many instances over the years where my ozone check valve has failed, thus blocking the introduction of ozone.  When this happens I have to change my routine to maintain the same water quality.  I can achieve the same quality without ozone but it is not as simple or last quite as long.  To say it does nothing is inaccurate, in my experience.  I do believe you pay a premium though and most likely never regain the added cost.  The most inexpensive way would be to just add more chlorine.

[Bill_Stevenson]

Ozone is beneficial and I recommend it.  I have run my tub with it, and then deliberately without it, for one month intervals just to verify results.  First let me explain that I use dichlor as a sanitizer in accordance with the program developed by the Vermonter, which you can find in the FAQs on Doc's site.  

The effectiveness of the ozonator is easily determined by looking at the difference between free chlorine and total chlorine.  This difference is known as combined chlorine.  Combined chlorine is the unwanted residual of sanitizing with dichlor.  It is the stuff that has that unpleasant smell, it has no sanitizing benefit and we shock our spas to get rid of it.  

In my experiements, I treated the water exactly the same way whether the ozonator was on or off.  That is, the same amount of dichlor was added each day and total chlorine was measured to ensure 3-5 ppm  after each soak.  Once a week I bring a water sample to the chemical store where they measure more accurately than I can do at home.  My results were consistent in that the amount of combined chlorine was always about 2 to 3 times greater without the ozonator than with it.  

Of course it is perfectly true that shocking once a week gets rid of the combined chlorine and this can be done with dichlor or MPS.  Either way, though, the greater the quantity of combined chlorine the more shock is required.  Especially when I used MPS, the total dissolved solids increased much more rapidly when the ozonator was not in use.  

In conclusion, it is possible to get by without an ozonator, but an ozonator is a great benefit.

Regards,

Bill

[Perk1]

I love the smell of Ozone in the morning.....