Spartan Environmental Technologies supplies ozone generators and ozone water treatment systems for a variety of
applications including bottled water processing.  for more information call us at
800-492-1252, e-mail us at info@
spartanwatertreatment
.com, or follow the information below.

Overview of Ozone in Bottle Water Treatment

Ozone is used in a variety of drinking or potable water treatment
applications including the treatment of bottled water.  In fact,
ozone water treatment is the most frequently used disinfection
process in water bottling today.  It has proven to be a safe and
effective method of producing high quality water.  Spartan equipment
is well suited for bottled water applications and has been used in
a number of such facilities.  Ozone can disinfect the water, the
bottling equipment, the bottle, the air above the water and the
sealed cap of the bottle.   Other benefits of ozone water treatment
in bottling include improved taste, elimination of odor, and improved
shelf life. In addition, since ozone decomposes into oxygen, once it
has treated the water it leaves no unpleasant odor or taste in the
water as some other disinfectant can.

Ozone Treatment of Bottled Water

An effective ozone water treatment process needs to have a good ozone contact system.  This system must efficiently
transfer the ozone gas into the water and then provide a sufficient contact time for ozone to react with the micro organisms
and chemicals in the water.    The mixing of ozone with water ozone is usually done with an ejector or venturi.  These
systems can achieve transfer efficiencies of 85-95%.  The system should allow enough time for the ozone to act on the
constituents of the water to insure proper disinfection and removal of unwanted chemicals.    The amount of ozone
required is determined by the ozone demand of the water.  Any constituent that can be oxidized by ozone will consume
ozone must be satisfied while leaving an excess residual.  The excess residual will insure that all pathogens have been
inactivated if sufficient contact time has been provided.  Typically, testing is needed to define the ozone demand of
specific water.  Besides the specific constituents of the water, other factors impact ozone demand.  These include: pH,
temperature, filler design, operating procedures, etc.  Process control for ozonation will focus on the proper dosage of
ozone into the water to achieve the necessary residual without adding excess ozone to the water.  A typical configuration
will involve a contact tank with a recirculation loop.  Ozone is injected into the recirculation loop and the tank provides the
proper contact time for the reaction of the ozone with the water.  The system will have a level control and vent.  The vent
will allow excess ozone gas released from the water to pass into an ozone destroyer (decomposer).  The decomposer
prevents excess ozone from entering the atmosphere of the bottling plant.  

The Spartan STERILINE system provides an integrated package for ozonation of bottled water on a single skid.  You can
learn more about the STERILINE by clicking on this link.

As noted above the ozone has two functions in the bottle water treatment process: disinfection and chemical oxidation.  A
detailed explanation of ozone disinfection of water can be found by clicking on this link.  It sufficient to say here that ozone
is a broad spectrum disinfectant which can treat viruses, bacteria and protozoa such as cryptosporidium.  

The water disinfection process should be applied downstream of all other water treatment and water conditioning of the
source water and just prior to the bottling step of the bottled water production. The ozone disinfection of bottled water is
expected to treat the smaller microorganisms with dissolved ozone concentrations in the range of 0.1 – 0.4 mg/l.

In bottled water chemical oxidation is often directed at taste and odor compounds.  
The actual mechanisms of how ozone
reacts with organic and inorganic compounds can be found by following this link.

Bottled Water Regulation

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has responsibility over the bottled water in the USA. The International Bottled
Water Association (IBWA) standards are based on FDA and EPA regulations.

“A substance added to the food (and water is a food) may be marketed without a regulation if it is one which is considered
as Generally Recognized As Safe (GRAS) by experts qualified by scientific training and experience to evaluate safety”. In
1982 FDA  classified ozone as GRAS for use as a disinfectant for bottled water up to a residual dissolved ozone
concentration of 0.4 mg/l.

The FDA has recognized ozone treatment to be a Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) for the bottled water industry. The
minimum ozone treatment for GMP is 0.1 mg/l ozone in water in an enclosed system for at least 5 minutes.  

The Department of Labor and its agency, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has the regulatory
authority over the allowed maximum ozone concentration levels in the atmosphere of work places, such as, water bottling
plants. The maximum ozone concentration permitted in those places is 0.1 ppm by volume.

The recommended practice is the installation of an ambient air ozone safety system consisting of an ozone monitor
coupled to the on/off control of the ozone generator and of the room’s exhaust air system. When the ozone concentration
exceeds the allowed preset level, the safety system shuts off the ozone generator and activates the air exhaust system.  
As noted above, in order to meet the above OSHA regulatory requirement, the ozone treatment system should be a
closed system with a vent for the off-gas to outdoors at roof top level through an ozone decomposer. The filler should be
hooded or enclosed with an exhaust to the outdoors.

The IBWA offers a manual to its members called the “IBWA Plant Technical Reference Manual”.  This manual covers
among others guidelines, standards and OSHA recording and reporting requirements.
Ozone Generators for Bottled Water Treatment
Spartan Environmental Technologies
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Phone: 800-492-1252
Fax: 440-368-3569

E-mail:
info@
spartanwatertreatment
.com

Ozone Generators and Ozone Treatment of Bottled Water

Ozone Bottled Water Treatment