Lotus Sanitizer -- Disinfect With Ozone ?

[Diogenes]

http://www.sharperimagebest.com/ts600.html

Just heard this being advertized on the radio..

Does this do what it says ?

The lotus® system's Oxyshield® technology infuses tap water with ozone — a natural sanitizer that is safe and harmless to healthy cells.

[Oldpossum]

But ask yourself this, if it kills bacteria, then why is it considered "safe and hamless to healthy cells"?

And since when did Ozone stop being a chemical?

But apart from the gratuitous use of "Ecofriend" buzzwords, it should work as advertised, provided you use the Ozone treated water immediatly.
Because Ozone is very reactive, so it's life expectancy, once generated, is very short.
Which is probably why they say it's "safe and hamless to healthy cells"; Because by the time the Ozone treated water most likely comes into contact with you, the Ozone is already gone.

Personally, I'd use this only as method of sterilizing tap water for drinking, as I don't think the ozone will persist for the time needed, to properly clean things with it (the treated water).
So use Sodium hypochloride solution (Household Bleach) for your cleaning needs, it works, and will probably be a lot cheaper!:)

[fuelair]

http://www.sharperimagebest.com/ts600.html

Just heard this being advertized on the radio..

Does this do what it says ?

OK, let's test this theory out. We will ask the Sharper Image people to enter a comfortable room. We'll seal the room to prevent contaminants. We will slowly remove the regular O2 (regular diatomic oxygen) from the room and replace it with O3 (ozone) until the O3 can be maintained at a constant level equivalent to the O2 normally present, by per cent, in the room. The affect on healthy normal cells of the lungs should result in major pneumonia in a very reasonable time as the O3 essentially, but slowishly, burns the lung tissue.

Soap and water will do just fine for my hands, thank you.

[Zeno]

I didn't look at the link. But I would assume it would be harmful for humans to come in contact with it.

Air ionisers use ozone to weigh down microscopic objects in the air to the floor so they are not inhaled. But are not recommeneded for use around humans or animals because ozone irritates lung tissue very easily. Which would make your lungs fill up with liquid most likely.

Maybe you can put drain cleaner on your hands. I'm sure that would kill the bacteria(and your skin, but I'm sure we could put a fun word on it to make it seem scientific and safe).

[rjh01]

I read all of the testimonials (all three of them) and had to laugh. One of them is so way out it had to be real.

First of all, I had some stains (red paint on a beige carpet and grease stains on my white stove top) that I thought I would never be able to remove, especially after using many other products. I used the lotus spray bottle and the stains came out perfectly with just a little elbow grease!


Grease can be removed with warm water and elbow grease.
I cannot see how it is possible to remove red paint from carpet without ruining the carpet.

But what the company says should put anyone off

Testimonials, customer reviews, or actual results presented do not reflect the results of all users of the product. Past experience of one consumer does not guarantee the same result for everyone.


I would have thought a product would give the same results to everyone who use it in the same way?

[Soapy Sam]

Injection of O3 into water treatment plants is common practice, especially sewage treatment.
Yes, it kills bacteria.
Because it's in solution in water it will very rapidly break down to stable O2 or an oxide of anything it reacts with.
If you make a habit of drinking water in process through a sewage treatment plant, yes it (the ozone) might not do you any good, but it pales by comparison with the other hazards you would be exposed to.

[rjh01]

How easy is it to make O3 in big enough quantities to kill bacteria? Could the product in the OP actually create that much O3?

[NeilC]

They use ozone in some spas, jacuzzis and expensive swimming pools. Swimming in an ozonated pool is lovely.

Ozone is also very good at killing smells.

A friend of a friend who used to grow a bit of weed used an ozonator to kill the smell of skunk plants. He'd only run it for a few minutes every hour. It was very effective.

I borrowed his machine to use after a party. I ran it in the room the next day for 20 minutes and all the booze and tobacco smells were gone.

[clarsct]

They use ozone in some spas, jacuzzis and expensive swimming pools. Swimming in an ozonated pool is lovely.

Ozone is also very good at killing smells.

A friend of a friend who used to grow a bit of weed used an ozonator to kill the smell of skunk plants. He'd only run it for a few minutes every hour. It was very effective.

I borrowed his machine to use after a party. I ran it in the room the next day for 20 minutes and all the booze and tobacco smells were gone.

Yes, Ozone 'kills' smells. Mainly because it breaks the bonds in the materials that we smell until they aren't detectable.

Erm. It also breaks down whatever substrate the material creating the smells was on....carpet, wood...et cetera.

As for using them in jacuzzis and pools, you can do so. The secret is that the ozone will generally react with the first thing it touches, so by the time it's bubbled through the water, most of it has been converted to oxygen. This will destroy the chemicals that make us wrinkle our nose, but I wonder how effective it is against things like flatworms and algae colonies.

[Soapy Sam]

The sewage treatment system on the rig I'm on now uses ozone injection among other methods. I don't know how it works, but the fact it runs off 3 phase 380V, has at least 3 large transformers and a warning panel labelled "Ultraviolet Source. Do not open while activated", may give us some clues.

[fuelair]

The sewage treatment system on the rig I'm on now uses ozone injection among other methods. I don't know how it works, but the fact it runs off 3 phase 380V, has at least 3 large transformers and a warning panel labelled "Ultraviolet Source. Do not open while activated", may give us some clues.
Ozone production requires large energy. Like lightning in the atmosphere. It is unstable and gives off energy it when it breaks down. That's what kills the bacteria, that's what burns our lung tissue.

[robinson]

Ozone generators for water tratment, pools and spas are common. They use ultaviolet light.

http://www.sunshinepool.com/ozone2.html

[Serenity]

Ozone production requires large energy. Like lightning in the atmosphere. It is unstable and gives off energy it when it breaks down. That's what kills the bacteria, that's what burns our lung tissue.The levels of ozone required to sanitize a localized surface area don't require anything near the power generated by a lightning stroke. If the ozone is predominantly contained (infused) in the water ozone leakage into the air would be insignificant, especially to cause respiratory distress.

I wouldn’t be so quick to dismiss it. I’ve heard of the food industry using ozone as a sanitizing agent, but never in the home kitchen till now. Nothing woo about it. From everything I’ve read I’d prefer ozone to chlorine. Chlorine is a lousy bacterial and fungi sterilant at food safe levels. It’s fine for keeping microbial counts down.

I don’t know if this gadget lives up to its claims or not without some independent test data, but it wouldn’t surprise me if it did. It’s rather beneficial that the ozone is short-lived. It is similar to H2O2 in this regard. I checked out the FAQ and the manufacturer states it takes approx. 2-3 minutes to disinfect the water… good for 15 minutes before it begins to revert to ordinary water. I wonder if testing was done using organic matter or just plain water. It claims to be powerful enough to sanitize—ORP=800 mV. The industry Oxidation Reduction Potential (ORP) standard value is between 650 to 700 mV. It’s a product worth looking into more. I'm sure the testimonials are a joke. They usually are.

Bottom-line: Yes there’s cause for suspicion. We need more data though before knocking it down. My main concern would be sufficient power to maintain sanitizing levels of ozone in the presence of a full load of organic matter.

Here's one reference: http://usna.usda.gov/hb66/024foodsafety.pdf (http://usna.usda.gov/hb66/024foodsafety.pdf)

[fuelair]

Last two are correct for small quantities of 03 - theoretically I can do it with a battery , wire and air for even smaller quantities. Atmospheric levels that mean anything though need high energy to produce but can be broken down pretty easily (ozone layer problems with CFCs)