Ozone gas is extremely effective for controlling bacteria and virus contamination. It has been used quite successfully in Europe for the purification of drinking and recreational water since the 1800's and is not harmful. Until fairly recently, the purity of water and food products in the United State has usually been assured by the addition of chlorine to kill dangerous microorganisms.

There's no doubt that chlorine and chlorine gas can be effective. In fact, chlorine gas was utilized during World War I killing not only bacteria and viruses, but several hundreds of thousands of young men as well. Throughout Europe, families saw the effects of this deadly gas and did not desire to use it in everyday living. Instead, they worked to develop an environmentally safe and user-friendly form of water purification. A system that imitated "cleansing, refreshing" reactions in nature. The result: The development and application of ozone generators.

For years the standard solution for water purification in the United States has been chlorine or other chemicals. As early as the 1920's chlorine has been used in many public systems to disinfect drinking water. To this day, chlorine is used regularly to sanitize drinking water as well as swimming pool and spa water. The by-products of chlorine are not pleasing to the taste and can irritate our skin and eyes in pools and spas as well as in the shower or bath tub.

But the quick solution is not always the best solution. In fact, the application of chemicals for water purification and food treatment has been determined to be a misnomer contributing to health problems. For example, within the last ten years, studies have shown that chlorine can produce undesirable by-products - among them trihalomethanes. Trihalomethanes are carcinogenic.