My Ozonator Test ... Revisited ... And Final Resul

[Vinny]

Well it's been about a week and this is what I've found.

My water with turning the ozonator off stayed pretty good. Maybe it was a slightly clearer with the ozonator but it may be my imagination.

3 nights ago I went in with my youngest and after soaking I put in the equivilent about 2 PPM (1 teaspoon and a little more) to see how the tub reacted without my usual 1 teaspoon per person.

This morning the tub was cloudy (missed yesterday with my every other day 1 teaspoon) and I hit it with 4 1/2 PPM. Came home from work and the tub was still cloudy so I hit it with another 4 1/2 PPM and MPS to burn up whatever (bacteria I'm sure) and disinfect the tub. I think the combo of low sanitizer to begin with and missing a day did this as I remember in the past 1 day does make a difference.

Since it was still cloudy after 8 hours of filtration I decided to put on the ozonator to run 24 hours to see if that'll clear up the tub ... I will report on more tommorrow.

[The_real_Clown_Shoes]

You'll be shocked at how little a difference the ozonator actually makes.  There's a reason they're largely optional.

[Gomboman]

You'll be shocked at how little a difference the ozonator actually makes.  There's a reason they're largely optional.

Tell us more girraffe. You don't think ozone does much? I wish someone would run a formalized study and document the results. It shouldn't be that difficult.

[Vinny]

Tell us more girraffe. You don't think ozone does much? I wish someone would run a formalized study and document the results. It shouldn't be that difficult.

What do you think I'm doing ... I do wear a lab coat over my bathing suit ... The nerve of some people!

[DPS]

A few years ago (5 or 6) we had a run of ozonators failing on our customer's spas.  The design was changed and they are extremely reliable for the past 4 or 5 years.  The point is that we knew when the ozonators failed because our customers started having water quality problems.  They would call or come in the store complaining that their normally crystal-clear water was getting cloudy and funky and they had not changed anything about their maintenance.  We would have them check their ozonator, to find that it needed to be replaced.  With the new ozonator they went right back to having crystal clear water, reliably, with the same water maintenance we had taught them when their spas were new.

So, you can't tell me that the ozonator had little effect.  At least not on the Marquis Spas that we sell.

I know that there are other methods for maintaining high water quality, and that they could have used more chemical sanitizers and achieved clear water, but with the technology available why should they?

[HotTubMan]

You'll be shocked at how little a difference the ozonator actually makes.  There's a reason they're largely optional.

It is my opinion they are largely optional because UL would not put their stamp of approval on them as a factory installed option.  

UL would not approve them because of off-gasing.

I realize that many have switched to ETL, but the process hasn't changed for most manufacturers, make it ozone ready and sell the device optionally and have the dealer install.

For those that dont know, UL and ETL are underwriters that place a safety stamp of approval on hot tubs for the manufacturers. There are others, but UL and ETL service most of the industry.

[The_real_Clown_Shoes]

I'm not saying that the ozone does nothing, but it's far from a necessity.  I've had several floor models that never had an ozonator on them and were still as crystal clear as the ones that do have them.  Ozonators just give the homeowner a little leway if they don't keep up on their chemicals as well as they should.

[hotubinn]

I'm not saying that the ozone does nothing, but it's far from a necessity.  I've had several floor models that never had an ozonator on them and were still as crystal clear as the ones that do have them.  Ozonators just give the homeowner a little leway if they don't keep up on their chemicals as well as they should.

Big difference, these are FLOOR models.  They are not getting regular use, therefore they should stay clear.

[The_real_Clown_Shoes]

I use them.

[The_real_Clown_Shoes]

And I've had few complaints from people who opted out of getting the ozonator.

This includes anything from a 130 gallon Solana to a 500 gallon Landmark/Grandee/Vista.  It all boils down to how you treat your spa.  I have a customer with a Vista and a pool, and he can't keep either clean (even with ozone) until he comes back in and we go round and round with him again.

[DPS]

Marquis' ozone system does pass UL.  Every Marquis Spa has factory installed ozone as part of the Constant Clean system.

[Chas]

Big difference, these are FLOOR models.  They are not getting regular use, therefore they should stay clear.

I work far harder to keep my floor models clear than my spa at home.

If you had any number of people come by and stick their hands/arms in front of jets - often with the lotion or sanitizer making obvious trails as they move about from jet to jet - I think you would have the same trouble.

Also, when I DO have somebody wet test a floor model, they almost always foam it up and/or oil it up.

[HotTubMan]

Marquis' ozone system does pass UL.  Every Marquis Spa has factory installed ozone as part of the Constant Clean system.

Does everything have to turn into a sales pitch?

Sure, I can name another that is UL approved and 2 that are ETL approved factory intsalled...I am sure there are others...sales people, chime in with your brand....NOW

[Vinny]

Well the ozonator ran for about 15 hours in my tub and quite frankly it didn't do much. Yes my tub was a little clearer but it could also be attributed to my circ pump running at Artesian's stated 11 GPM.

From my observation ON MY TUB I believe ozone works very lttle. My water during this test was 3 months old and maybe this has something to do with it.

I truely think that if you use the correct chemical routine for your usage then ozone really doesn't contribute much. Actually after writing this having ozone running for 15 hours didn't contribute much either.

With running ozone only 10 hours a day, I've never used very little chlorine - usually 1.5 PPM per person, I very rarely had high combined chlorine and whenever someome would go in with a freshly washed bathing suit I would get foam.

Without running ozone - I seem to get the same results erxcept that during the week I couldn't measure combined chlorine since my youngest went in with his friends and I had to hit the tub with MPS to get rid of the foam. Maybe it's because my usage pattern is light.

The ONLY thing I noticed is that on my tub it seems that when you choose to stop the ozone it stops the tub from clearing out the lines - that I didn't like but this isn't the function of the ozonator.

So for me as I fill up with fresh water ... I'm going to knock down the ozone time to 2 hours a day so my pumps can kick on, keep my chemical routine the same and if my water tells that I need to up the ozone time I will report back to you.

As a side note ... I agree 100% with HotTubMan - WHY DOES EVERY THREAD HAVE TO BE A SALES PITCH WITH SOME OF YOU PROFESSIONALS ... I think it's tub envy! Now go outside and stroke, er I mean wax you shiny car ...

[The_real_Clown_Shoes]

I hope that Vinny's results don't lead to lynchings of several prominent salespeople...

Ozone is a wonderful thing, but I said before and I'll say it again, it isn't necessary.  It's great for use with chlorine to keep the amount of chloramines down.  It's great for killing bacteria if you have a large amount of people using the spa and your residual of sanitizer is depleted.

But it is not and never will be a magical cure-all.  Glad this gave you some answers, Vinny.  What's your next experiment?