Building Infrastructure

Ozone is a sustainable and environmentally safe treatment for water that is chemical-free, energy-efficient and cost-effective.

It has been used for over 100 years, particularly in Europe, and provides an ideal water treatment solution for building water issues. For building infrastructure, Aclarus Ozone provides water treatment solutions for the following operational challenges:

Ozone Advantages for Building Infrastructure

There is an increase in demand for sustainable solutions for building water issues because of anticipated water shortages and increased regulations for re-using water for non-potable use in buildings.

While ozone has not always been an affordable or practical solution for buildings, Aclarus Ozone Systems are designed and engineered specifically for building infrastructure. They are an approved disinfection method for all kinds of water, are cost-effective, and can be installed on a small footprint, typically within existing infrastructure.

Ozone is increasingly being used in building infrastructure because it has the following advantages over traditional disinfection methods:

✓ Fully Automated - Minimal Operator Requirements

✓ Environmentally Friendly - No Harmful Residual Left in the Water

✓ Disinfects and Sanitizes Quickly and Strongly - Without Chemicals

✓ Treats Incoming Water to Meet or Exceed Bottled-Water Standards

✓ Neutralizes Unhealthy Metals in the Water, Like Iron, Sulphur and Manganese

✓ Removes Any Colour, Taste or Odour

✓ Removes Contaminants of Emerging Concern (CEC’s), Such as Pesticides, Organic Matter, Various Microbes, Pharmaceuticals and Micro-Plastics

✓ Produced Onsite, Removing the Need to Purchase, Transport, Store and Physically Handle Chemicals

✓ Lowest Lifetime Operation Cost (LOC)

✓ Quick Return on Investment (ROI)

Re-using water has significant environmental, economic and social benefits:

• Less storm water for the municipality to treat and discharge;

• Less demand from municipalities for potable water treatment used in non-potable sources (e.g. toilets), which leads to lower GHG emissions (from treatment); and,

• Lower costs for building and business owners (lower fees for incoming water and discharge, and no ongoing chemical purchase, storage or safety)

However, there are challenges in achieving these benefits. Few treatment solutions exist that match the ability of ozone to disinfect and remove colour, metals and other contaminants without the use of chemicals; manage high flow rates; deal with varying water quality from building to building; and, are fully automated and low-maintenance.

With an increase in demand for sustainable solutions to solve re-use and building water issues, ozone is increasingly being employed because of its numerous advantages over traditional treatment methods. Supplementing or replacing an existing system with an ozone system has the potential to reduce costs and lessen environmental impacts.

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Aclarus Ozone Cost Comparison

There is a common perception that ozone is an unaffordable approach to water treatment. In fact, the average operational cost of the Aclarus Ozone System is approximately 5-10 cents per 1,000 litres of treated water, offering the lowest Lifetime Operating Cost (LOC) compared to other technology and a quick Return on Investment.

Aclarus Ozone systems are found in a wide range of applications – including municipal operations – precisely because they are a cost-effective and reliable treatment. There is significant independent research demonstrating the savings for municipalities when switching to ozone.

The savings are found in four categories:

✓ Less Monitoring of Equipment

Unlike the conventional chlorination systems, the Aclarus Ozone System requires very little operator intervention. A local programmable logic controller (PLC) continuously monitors oxidation readings and adjusts the ozone generator to maintain the pre-determined setting. If the oxidation goes out of range, equipment fails, or an ozone leak occurs, an automated alarm system alerts the operator. A single Accuvac Ozone Test is performed once per day to confirm that the oxidation-reduction potential (ORP) is reading accurately.

✓ Lower Peripheral Costs

Producing ozone requires more electricity than running a chlorination system. However, ozone does not have the same peripheral costs as chlorine, including the purchase of the chemical and the costs associated with its safe handling and storage. UV systems can be more costly than ozone because they require a UV chamber that increases an organization’s CAPEX costs, use more electricity, and require the regular replacement of bulbs.

✓ Easier Regulatory Compliance

Due to government regulations on chlorine discharges into waterways, significant operator time is spent monitoring and controlling the chlorine and sulphur dioxide feeds. Incomplete disinfection is a regulatory violation, and the operator time required to ensure compliance with regulatory bodies is significant. Conversely, ozone control is completely automated, and since the ozone rapidly degrades to oxygen, it is unnecessary to remove the ozone post-disinfection. Operator time to control the ozone is therefore minimal.

✓ Reduced Maintenance

Chlorine is extremely corrosive and damaging to nearly every component with which it comes into contact. The chlorine transfer lines and regulators must be cleaned/replaced annually. The ozone system uses 316 stainless steel for all its transfer lines, so maintenance cost is negligible. UV systems, meanwhile, require regular monitoring of UV bulbs and their periodic replacement. The bulbs also end up in landfill.