Municipal water companies have used ozone
technology to treat large quantities of water for many years because of its
effectiveness in purifying and conditioning water. Because ozone can be
added at the point of water treatment and naturally reverts back to Oxygen
without leaving any residue behind, it can keep water sanitized throughout a
facility.
In the bottled water market, maintaining an optimum level of ozone is very
critical. If the ozone level is too high, plastic bottles may develop an
aftertaste. If the ozone level is too low, bacteria spores hidden in the
water, inside the plastic walls or closure device could recover and easily
contaminate the entire product. It is recommended that ozone should be
applied in the range of 1.0 to 2.0 mg/lit for a period of 4 to 10 minutes
contact time to safely ensure disinfection, this situation helps to maintain
a 0.1 to 0.4 ppm residual ozone level at the time of bottling. This provides
an additional safety factor because the bottles can be disinfected and
sanitized while filling it with the product.
Water treated with ozone is also suitable for rinsing and cleaning bottles
and disinfecting production equipment. This reduces the potential for
bacterial growth in unchlorinated water found within the distribution
system. It also reduces the amount of clean-in-place (CIP) required to keep
the operation disinfected. Many plants have started incorporating an
Ozonated cap and bottling rinsing system.
Ozone treatment is one of the most effective microbiological barriers that
water bottlers can employ to protect consumers against microorganisms.
Consumers are largely unaware, that many bottlers worldwide rely on ozone to
provide safe and good tasting product. Since, ozone has played a critical
role in helping the bottled water industry in delivering a safe and
aesthetically pleasing product.
- Ozone disinfects water against all types of microorganisms that are
present in the water.
- Ozone is extremely useful in disinfecting bottles, especially
reusable bottles in the washing section prior to bottling and
disinfecting wetted parts of the bottling equipment and machinery.
- Use of Ozone allows lower operating costs. Ozone reduces overall
chemical dosing costs, discharge assessments and plant downtime.
- Ozone is not typically associated with by-products or contamination
and naturally reverts back to oxygen.
- Ozone is required to be generated on-site, so no dangerous storage or
handling is required. Plus, it is environment friendly.
- Ozone is further used for the disinfection of the surface of the
bottle and the sealed caps of the bottled water.
Ozone treatment is a unique and valuable process. It can accomplish all
the aforementioned treatment objectives without leaving a taste or chemical
residue behind. Ozone is an exceptionally powerful disinfectant and oxidant.
It does its job and disappears. With appropriate pretreatment and careful
monitoring and control, it can leave water free of disinfection by- products
as well.