Low quality swimming water

Different methods have been used to reach a sufficiently high water quality. Among the most common methods are filter screens and sand filtration, chemical treatments (e.g. for flocculation and water softening), and disinfection with chlorine, UV and ozone. Different technologies are often combined depending on contaminant level and desired water quality. Mellifiq offers all required technologies for superb pool water quality, including:

• Saniray UV reactors with low and medium pressure lamps, complete with ballast and controls for any flow
• Turn-key ozone systems under our Ozonetech brand
• Water Maid FlexKarb multimedia filter systems
• Chemical dosing systems

The by far most common disinfection method today is chlorination. However, chlorination is also associated with complications regarding health effects among swimmers. Contrary to popular belief, chlorine does not kill all germs instantly. Many germs are also tolerant to chlorine and once they get in the pool, it can take anywhere from minutes to days for chlorine to kill them. Swallowing just a little water that contains these germs can make swimmers really sick.

Health risks with water chlorination

In 2014 the Scientific Journal Environmental Science and Technology published an article which shows that uric acid, (and chemically similar compounds from body fluids) and chlorine reacts and form some potentially harmful chemicals. These harmful chemicals are known as nitrogen-containing disinfection byproducts (N-DBPs) such as cyanogen chloride (CNCl) and trichloramine (NCl3).

These two compounds, even at low levels in swimming pools, are associated with mucous, eye and throat irritation and respiratory damage which may prevent swimmers from using the swimming pool. At high levels, they can adversely affect the nervous and cardiovascular systems. Other known by-products of chlorination are trihalomethanes (THMs) that cause other severe health damage. By using other disinfectants than chlorination these effects can be mitigated.

Ozone treatment on the other hand is more sustainable and enables the lesser use of chlorine, reducing water consumption, energy demand, and mitigating negative health effects caused by chlorine byproducts. Since ozone is produced from ambient air, the raw material is free resulting in lower costs of purchasing, transportation, handling, storage, waste handling and the residue removal of the chlorine treatment.

Existing treatment solutions

A standard design for swimming pool water treatment is typically based on the following treatment steps; filtration, disinfection, chemical treatment, and water replacement.

Filtration is commonly performed in two stages where the first stage removes larger pollutants like hairs and the second stage removes small particles.

Disinfection leads to deactivation of microorganisms and chemical decomposition of organic material. This is commonly achieved by chlorination of the water treatment stream, but can also be achieved by ozonation and UV-treatment. These different alternatives all have their advantages and drawbacks.

Additionally, chemical treatment is often used to soften the water (i.e. remove calcium and magnesium ions) or for flocculation (i.e. neutralization of negatively charged particles) which causes them to form larger particles that can be removed by filtration.

Ozonation as a modern alternative

When using an Ozonetech system, ozone is generated in-situ unlike traditional chemicals used for disinfection and cleaning, such as chlorine. Ozonation utilizes naturally occurring oxygen, which eliminates the need for chemical handling procedures. This means that there is no purchasing, no transportation, no handling, no storage, no waste and no residues involved like there is when using chemicals. Ozone is produced by imposing a high voltage across a dielectric discharge gap (Corona Discharge) which ionizes oxygen atoms and forms ozone molecules. Ozone is a much stronger oxidant than chlorine and once applied, ozone instantly reacts with contaminants, leaving no byproducts other than oxygen.

The main mechanisms for ozone disinfection include the destruction of microorganism cell walls, radical oxidation reactions, decomposition of nucleic acids (DNA and RNA), and breakage of carbon-nitrogen bonds (which are essential in most organic compounds like e.g. proteins). Two main factors influence the effectiveness of ozone disinfection, namely the contact time and ozone concentration.

At Mellifiq we are specialists in ozone treatment and know just how to tackle your swimming pool challenges and to ensure a cost-efficient way to disinfect and purify your swimming water.

The treatment process in swimming pools

The feed-gas to the ozone generator is added either in the form of purified oxygen or atmospheric air. Purified oxygen can be delivered to the swimming pool site, but is preferably also produced on-site from atmospheric air with an air separation unit generating a 93% oxygen feed.

Using a high-purity oxygen feed in combination with an effective cooling system, we offer a highly compact ozone generation design. We supply Ozonetech systems with production capacities ranging from 5-5000 grams O3/hour.

Ozone gas is effectively dissolved into the swimming pool waterside stream using venturi injection. This way, as much ozone as possible is transferred into the water for subsequent disinfection in the reaction tank as depicted in the process flow diagram below.

The dissolved ozone is evenly distributed into the ozone reaction tank. This is where the disinfection process takes place. It is important to provide enough contact time to achieve efficient disinfection results. To optimize the disinfection process three key parameters have to be controlled, namely ozone concentration, contacting, and reaction time. The final step in the ozonation process involves ozone destruction of the off-gas to ensure a healthy working environment for operators.

Disinfectant efficiency comparison

Based on CT-values for virus disinfection provided by the EPA, a graphical comparison is made between chlorine, chloramine, chlorine dioxide, and ozone. A low CT-value represents an efficient disinfectant.

Because of the high CT-value of chloramine, an additional figure is presented below to show the relationship between only ozone, chlorine dioxide, and chlorine.

The graphs clearly show the small amounts of ozone needed for disinfection, placing ozone on top as the most effective commercial disinfectant.

Disinfectant cost comparison

Estimated cost comparison between hypochlorite treatment and ozonation is shown below based on a 25 × 25 m commercial swimming pool which is operated 350 days per year. The comparison includes the hypochlorite chemical costs for chlorination and the power consumption costs for an ozone generator coupled with an oxygen concentrator.

Our advantages

We offer premium state of the art technology with high reliability and efficiency, low energy consumption, and low maintenance cost. Other advantages include:

• Long lifetime of the ozone generator. This is partly due to the effective cooling system and the fact that concentrated, filtrated, and dried oxygen is fed to the generator.
• We offer turn-key facilities, ensuring reliable process operation.
• Compact design and the possibility to increase disinfection capacity due to modular generator design.
• High ozone concentration, maximizing treatment effectiveness.

Process design

The equations presented in the following paragraphs may be used to estimate the capacity requirements for a potential ozonation process for swimming pool water treatment.

Treatment capacity

To determine the capacity requirements of the water treatment system the most important factors include: swimming pool size, bathing load, pool type, and pool temperature.

Reaction tank

To estimate the size of the reaction tank a minimum reaction time of 2.5 minutes should be used given an ozone concentration of 1 mg O3/L. This is equivalent to a CT-value of 2.5 (mg · min/L) which is definitely safe and sufficient for swimming pool water. As an example, a by-flow (to the ozonation system) of 60 m3/h requires a reaction tank volume of 2.5 m3.

More about chlorination, UV and ozonation

So called “chlorine”, in colloquial language, actually covers an entire group of substances. Common chlorine compounds are e.g. chlorine gas, sodium hypochlorite (liquid), calcium hypochlorite (granular), in situ electrolysis of NaCl solution, chlorinated isocyanurates (stabilized chlorine), and chlorine dioxide. These chlorine substances all share the property of forming free chlorine in water solution which is readily available for water disinfection. Free chlorines are typically hypochlorite ions (OCl-) and hypochlorous acid (HOCl).

In the chlorination process the level of chlorine has to be balanced to enable sufficient disinfection and at the same time minimize discomfort for swimming pool users. The main discomfort issues include mucous tissue irritation. According to the WHO the level of free chlorine should not exceed 3 mg/L in public and semi-public swimming pools. The maximum combined chlorine level for all temperatures at pH 7.2 – 7.6 should not exceed 0.4 mg/L. All chlorine based chemical treatments share the same problem; they all lead to buildup of combined chlorine which is the source for the above mentioned discomfort. Therefore, when using chlorination fresh makeup water has to be added regularly to the system to dilute and maintain an acceptable level of combined chlorine. When using chlorinated isocyanurates the maximum level of cyanuric acid proposed by the WHO is 100 mg/l.

UV-treatment

Ultra-Violet radiation is another technology used for swimming pool water treatment. A UV-lamp is used to generate radiation in the UV-spectrum which efficiently deactivates microorganisms, virus, and algae by physically destroying the DNA. It is often used as a complement to chlorination which then enables a reduction of chlorine consumption. On the other hand, UV-radiation also breaks down some of the chlorine which therefore has an increasing effect on the demand for chlorine.

Ozonation

Ozone is generated in-situ unlike traditional chemicals used for disinfection and cleaning. Ozonation utilizes naturally occurring oxygen which eliminates the need for chemical handling procedures. Ozone is produced by imposing a high voltage across a dielectric discharge gap (Corona Discharge) which ionizes oxygen atoms and forms ozone molecules. Ozone is a much stronger oxidant than chlorine and once applied ozone instantly reacts with contaminants, leaving no byproducts.

The main mechanisms for ozone disinfection include: destruction of microorganism cell walls, radical oxidation reactions, decomposition of nucleic acids (DNA and RNA), and breakage of carbon-nitrogen bonds (which are essential in most organic compounds like e.g. proteins). Two main factors influence the effectiveness of ozone disinfection, namely the contact time and ozone concentration.