OZONE INFUSION – EFFECTS ON SPECIFIC BACTERIA, VIRUSES AND MOLDS, AND OZONE’S CONTRIBUTION TO WATER PURIIFICATION

 

Ozone is a naturally occurring component of fresh air.    It is produced principally by three methods – (1) by the ultra violet rays of the sun reacting with the Earth’s upper atmosphere which creates the protective ozone layer, (2) the electrical discharge of lightening, or (3) artificially with an ozone generator.  The ozone molecule (O3) contains three oxygen atoms rather than the two oxygen molecules present in oxygen (O2).  Ozone is a very reactive and unstable gas with a short half-life before losing one oxygen molecule and reverting back to oxygen.

 

Ozone is the most powerful and rapid acting oxidizer man can produce, and it will destroy (oxidize) all bacteria, mold and yeast spores, organic material and viruses with which it comes in contact.  It also oxidizes and precipitates iron, sulfur, and manganese so they can be filtered out of solution.  Ozone will oxidize and break down many organic chemicals as well.  Ozonation is typically used as a point of entry water treatment for this reason

 

Bacteria are microscopically small single-cell organisms with primitive structures.  The cell membrane that seals the body of the bacteria is relatively solid.  Ozone interferes with the membrane by inhibiting and blocking the enzymatic control system.  A sufficient amount of ozone breaks through the cell membrane leading to the destruction of the bacteria.

 

Viruses are small, independent particles of crystals and macromolecules.  Unlike bacteria, viruses multiply only within the host cell.  They transform proteins of the host call into proteins of their own.  Ozone destroys viruses by diffusion through the protein coat into the nucleic acid core, resulting in damage to the viral RNA.  At higher concentrations, ozone destroys the capsid, or exterior protein shell by oxidation so DNA or RNA structures of the microorganism are affected.

 

This is a list of pathogens destroyed by ozonation and minimum dosage required for kill.  1-mg/l = 1-PPM:

 

Pathogen

Dosage

Aspergillus Niger (Black Mount)

Destroyed by 1.5 to 2 mg/I

Bacillus Bacteria

Destroyed by 0.2 m/I within 30 seconds 

Bacillus Anthracis (causes anthrax in sheep, cattle and pigs.  Also a human pathogen)

Ozone susceptible

Bacillus cereus

99% destruction after 5-min at 0.12 mg/l in water

B. cereus (spores)

99% destruction after 5-min at 2.3 mg/l in water

Bacillus subtilis

90% reduction at 0.10-PPM for 33 minutes

Bacteriophage f2

99.99% destruction at 0.41 mg/l for 10-seconds in water

Botrytis cinerea

3.8 mg/l for 2 minutes

Candida Bacteria

Ozone susceptible

Clavibacter michiganense

99.99% destruction at 1.1 mg/l for 5 minutes

Cladosporium

90% reduction at 0.10-PPM for 12.1 minutes

Clostridium Bacteria

Ozone susceptible

Clostridium Botulinum Spores. Its toxin paralyses the central nerve system, being a poison multiplying in food and meals.

0.4 to 0.5 mg/l threshold value

Coxsackie Virus A9

95% destruction at 0.035 mg/l for 10-seconds in water 

Coxsackie Virus B5

99.99% destruction at 0.4 mg/l for 2.5-minutes in sludge effluent 

Diphtheria Pathogen

Destroyed by 1.5 to 2 mg/l

Eberth Bacillus (Typhus abdomanalis).  Spreads typically by aqueous infection and causes typhoid.

Destroyed by 1.5 to 2 mg/l

Echo Virus 29: The virus most sensitive to ozone.

After a contact time of 1 minute at 1 mg/l of ozone, 99.999% killed. 

Enteric virus

95% destruction at 4.1 mg/l for 29 minutes in raw wastewater

Escherichia Coli Bacteria (from feces) 

Destroyed by 0.2 mg/l within 30 seconds in air

E-coli (in clean water)

99.99% destruction at 0.25 mg/l for 1.6 minutes

E-coli (in wastewater)

99.9% destruction at 2.2 mg/l for 19 minutes

Encephalomyocarditis Virus

Destroyed to zero level in less than 30 seconds with 0.1 to 0.8 mg/l.

Endamoebic Cysts Bacteria

Ozone susceptible

Enterovirus Virus

Destroyed to zero level in less than 30 seconds with 0.1 to 0.8 mg/l.

Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. lycopersici

1.1 mg/l for 10 minutes

Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. melonogea

99.99 % destruction at 1.1 mg/l for 20 minutes

GDVII Virus

Destroyed to zero level in less than 30 seconds with 0.1 to 0.8 mg/l.

Hepatitis A virus

99.5% reduction at 0.25 mg/l for 2-seconds in a phosphate buffer

Herpes Virus

Destroyed to zero level in less than 30 seconds wit 0.1 to 0.8 mg/l.

Influenza Virus

0.4 to 0.5 mg/l threshold value

Klebs-Loffler Bacillus

Destroyed by 1.5 to 2 mg/l

Legionella pneumophila

99.99% destruction at 0.32 mg/l for 20 minutes in distilled water

Luminescent Basidiomycetes (species having no melanin pigment).

Destroyed in 10 minutes at 100-PPM

Mucor piriformis

3.8 mg/l for 2 minutes

Mycobacterium avium

99.9% with a CT value of 0.17 in water

Mycobacterium foruitum

90% destruction at 0.25 mg/l for 1.6 minutes in water

Penicillium Bacteria

Ozone susceptible

Phytophthora parasitica

3.8 mg/l for 2 minutes

Poliomyelitis Virus

99.99% kill with 0.3 to 0.4 mg/l in 3-4 minutes

Poliovirus type 1

99.5% destruction at 0.25 mg/l for 1.6 minutes in water

Proteus Bacteria

Very susceptible

Pseudomonas Bacteria

Very susceptible

Rhabdovirus virus

Destroyed to zero level in less than 30 seconds with 0.1 to 0.8 mg/l

Salmonella Bacteria

Very susceptible

Salmonella typhimurium

99.99% destruction at 0.25 mg/l for 1.67 minutes in water

Schistosoma Bacteria

Very susceptible

Staph epidermidis

90% reduction at 0.1-ppm for 1.7 min

Staphylococci

Destroyed by 1.5 to 2.0 mg/l

Stomatitis Virus

Destroyed to zero level in less than 30 seconds with 0.1 to 0.8 mg/l

Streptococcus Bacteria

Destroyed by 0.2 mg/l within 30 seconds

Verticillium dahliae

99.99 % destruction at 1.1 mg/l for 20 minutes

Vesicular Virus

Destroyed to zero level in less than 30 seconds with 0.1 to 0.8 mg/l

Virbrio Cholera Bacteria

Very susceptible

Vicia Faba progeny

Ozone causes chromosome aberration and its effect is twice that observed by the action of X-rays