Ozone generator + UV filter

[magnomp]

Currently I just have a sand filter on my pool and was wondering about UV filter and Ozone generator.
I just bought the ozone and now I was wondering if the UV would add any value?
I mean, would ozone + uv bring any benefit over just ozone?

[Larry]

UV can add to the reduction in chlorine use and increase disinfection, though is not commonly used together for small private pools such as yours.
DEL have produced a combined Advanced Oxidation Process (AOP) unit for residential pools, which you can have a look at for some more detailed information.

The Advanced Oxidation Process is:

... when ozone is added upstream of the UV unit, small amounts of hydroxyl radical (OH) species are produced. Hydroxyl radicals are extremely short-lived, just a fraction of a second, but they are also extremely powerful in terms of oxidation. In fact, hydroxyl radicals are the only compounds more powerful than ozone used in water treatment.

AOP processes are so powerful they can fully oxidize all forms of organic contaminants, including microorganisms, human waste, dangerous chemicals like pharmaceutical waste and petrochemicals, fungus, algae, pesticides and other toxic elements. They also oxidize non-organic materials such as dissolved metals (iron, manganese, etc.) found in potable water, enabling their removal by filtration.
Source: aquamagazine.com

As a pool professional, I prefer ozone over UV due to the easy and cheap maintenance. I would not recommend using both to any of our customers because AOP is still quite a new concept and the research has not all been collated yet. The added cost would need to add considerable advantages for me to be totally convinced.

If any of our clients expressed an interest in hydroxyl oxidation, I would recommend ECOsmarte, which is also completely chlorine free and gives great results (though needs some close nurturing and delicate water balance).

Just my opinion though.
Larry

[magnomp]

UV can add to the reduction in chlorine use and increase disinfection

Is there anything UV can properly handle that ozone can't?

As for costs, I bought a professional Ozone generator, but for UV I would go for a diy solution that I expect to go bellow USD $100 for a 95w unit

I would install ozone after UV, so that I wont have any ozone reacting with UV light

Of course, all of this only if UV could add any value to the system

[Larry]

In order to take advantage of the Advanced Oxidation Process the ozone needs to be piped in before the UV because the action of the UV on the ozone creates the hydroxyl ions.

Here is a side-by-side comparison of UV vs ozone (admittedly by an ozone manufacturer).

I don't know if you would get any noticeable benefit from adding a homebrew UV system, but if it is really that cheap it may be worth a try.

Please let us know if you go for the UV and if there is any difference in your pool.

Larry

[magnomp]

Thanks Larry,
In fact my original idea was to use both systems but not interacting with each other cause I thought ozone interaction with UV would not be good, but I see now it would not bring any beneffit compared to ozone alone

As for ozone before UV so that both systems interact, I agree with you that it looks a pretty new concept and although it looks promissing I don't feel safe to use it for now, specially in a DIY way like I would do

I'm going to install only the ozone santizer in my pool. But will try to keep informed about hydroxyl ions system