Ozonators: Although ozonators have been used for close to two decades in spas, recently there was an explosion of its use in the hot tub industry.

Simply explained, there are two major ways to produce O3, which is ozone gas. One would think that making ozone gas would be troublesome because isn't that one of the major problems pollution creates? You will have to talk to experts about that; but the assure us this is different. The two ways is by glowing UV bulb and a Corona Discharge chip/chamber.

What happens is this device create ozone gas. The water movement sucks the ozone gas into the spa's water. The ozone gas is an oxidizer. So it likes to kill organic matter... The same stuff you kill with your sanitizer. It does this is a mild less smelly way. Most people don't smell the gas but it gives a sweet motor kind of smell. The ozone kills and dissipates. End of organics; end of gas. Dead stuff gets picked up by the filter and you clean the filter. Result: clean water.

Most spas with ozonators ONLY work when the low or #1 pump is on. Also, most boards are designed to turn off the ozonator when anyone touches the topside for 30-60 minutes. After that time, the board will turn the ozonator back on. Typically you use less sanitizer or even need to only "shock" the water weekly and use no sanitizer. You still must balance Total Alkalinity and PH but your weekly use of chemicals can be severely lowered. Because of this, the wear/tear on your spa can lower since you are not allowing the spa's water chemistry to drift to extremes.

The life of an ozonator is a challenge. A rule of thumb is thinking you normally will get 3-5 years of service. On some CD models you can often just replace the CD chip or chamber. On bulbs you usually replace the whole unit. You can purchase testing kit to check ozonator output but most who see the positive affects of their working ozonator and clearly see when the amount has dramatically lower or stopped.

FYI: You don't HAVE to have or HAVE to replace your ozonator. Its a real plus but the spa will operate without. If you stop using yours, you will need to tend to your sanitizer  to make sure you don't allow too many organics to grow. Remember, the ozonator is a sanitizer so if you don't use it, you will have to replace with chemicals.