Ozone, an Effective and Affordable Choice
for Small Water Systems

Presented at:

American Water Works Association

1999 Annual Conference

Chicago, Illinois

June 22, 1999

Rip G. Rice, Ph.D.
Rice International Consulting Enterprises
Ashton, Massachusettes USA

Paul Overbeck
GDT Corporation
Phoenix, Arizona USA

Ken Larson
Environmental Water Soulutions, Inc.
Bothell, Washington USA

ABSTRACT

Ozone, the strongest oxidant and disinfectant in commercial use is being employed in over 3,000 large scale municipal plants world wide. In August 1997, and again in August 1998, the U.S. EPA identified ozone as a Small System Compliance Technology for Existing national Primary Drinking Water Regulations related to revisions in the 1996 Safe Drinking Water Act.

Survey Data developed to support the inclusion of ozone as a "Compliance Technology" identified that over half of the more than 260 U.S. municipal ozone installations are in systems treating less than 1MGD (e.g., plants that serve less than 10,000 persons). An additional 363 community, non-community and single family ozone installations using a novel ozone and filtration process were also identified.

This paper will explore the data from this on-going U.S. survey to explain how ozone can be used safely and effectively in small systems applications. Special detail is paid to the rather complex requirements of engineered subsystems, e.g., the ozone generator, feed gas treatment, power supply, gas/liquid contacting, and contactor off-gas destruction. System design, performance, capital and operating costs will be presented, along with a discussion of some basic aspects of ozone technology in combination with filtration systems.