Wednesday, July 22, 2015

How to Use Ozone to Kill Coliform Bacteria for Home

Hello Francis,

Thank you for contacting us.  You wrote:


“Need info on a whole house ozonator system. 1 bathroom, 1 kitchen, dishwasher, laundry. Well recently tested positive for coliforms.”
Francis

We can work with you and make a recommendation on a whole-house ozone system, but we do need some more information.  In addition to coliform bacteria, you had reported brown or black stains.  This is likely from iron or manganese, though it could be sediment-related as well.  Have you had your water tested?  In order to make any sort of ozone system recommendation, we always need a water chemistry report to refer to.


One common way to introduce ozone is to have a large atmospheric storage tank, and distribute ozone into it by means of a small diffuser stone.  In that case, the generator needs to be sized properly according to the size of the storage tank.  Do you have a storage tank?  I don’t mean a pressure tank… I mean like a large 500 gallon storage tank, with redistribution afterwards using another pressure tank and booster pump.

If you don’t have a storage tank to use, then it can be accomplished with an all-in-one sort of package using ozone injection, a contact tank with venting, and a booster pump all on one single skid-mounted system:


POE10: 1.3Grams/Hour 1/2 Horsepower pump,  115 or 220 Volt:         

The system includes a CD-10AD ozone generator with built-in air dryer; stainless steel re-circulation pump; contact vessel; injector manifold; delay timer; backflow prevention; recirculation loop; off-gas vent; and SCFH flow meter. 
POE10: 1.3Grams/Hour 1/2 Horsepower pumpConstruction of this unit allows for straight-forward installation and plumbing.  A time delay unit is pre-installed to turn the system off after the well is off in the range of 15 seconds – 999 hours.  Second option is POE 12, cost is $8,660.00, spec’s on each are below.
Dimensions:  68” Tall x 29” Wide x 29” deep.  Contact tank is 30 gallons, plumbing connections are 1” NPT
Click here for more information about this product.

One way or another, ozone treatment is expensive.  Much more expensive than hydrogen peroxide or chlorination.  So we’re a lot less likely to bring it up, although we do have a comprehensive section of our website devoted to ozone treatment that you could explore here.

I should point out though that this recommendation above is just to get ozone into the water in an appropriate dosage to kill the bacteria.  Depending on your water quality and because of the staining you’ve reported, you will most likely need a stage of actual filtration in-line to collect oxidized particles and flush them out.  The specifics of the filtration needed will depend on what your water chemistry shows.

If you’re interested, here is a link to a test kit that we offer, that you can use to cover the basic mineral content of your water.

Basically, it’s a two-part test kit.  It includes testing at home, on-site, that you would perform yourself for iron, pH, manganese, hydrogen sulfide, etc… and it also includes two sample bottles in a mailer that goes back to use for testing at our lab.  The lab test is quite accurate and gives results for hardness, manganese, iron, TDS, and pH.  Between the home testing and lab results, we should have everything we need to make a great recommendation for you on how to remove that iron and prevent odor and staining problems.