This customer stores and packages various spices in a large warehouse that is near houses, a school, even a busy roadway.  This was leading to lower quality of life, and lower property values in the neighboring community.

Warehouse Location

After successfully installing the ozone system within the air space inside the warehouse odors were reduced inside of the building, leaving almost no odor escaping outside. This drastic reduction in odor was a huge success.  Not only is the odor in the community lower, the employees have a better place to work.

Ozone System Used

Ozone Manifold

Results

• After the ozone system was implemented the odor directly next to the building was almost completely eliminated.
• The county health department praised the spice warehouse for the amazing difference in odor emissions.
• Due to the improved air quality inside the warehouse, the vent fans could be slowed down to recirculate less air.
• Air quality inside the warehouse improved creating a better work environment for the employees.
• Fines and odor complaints were completely eliminated after installation of the ozone system.

Links

Spice Warehouse Ozone Installation odor control with ozone

Ozone and Industrial Odor Control

Hog Facility Odor Control System

Step 1:  Prepare for Treatment

The same as with any ozone treatment, always start here: clean up the source of the smell! If you are dealing with mold, assess the problem and clean the affected areas with a mold inhibitor if possible. If you had rodent problems, remove any nests, dead animals, and fecal/urine matter you can find. If the source of the odor is a spill on the carpet or upholstery, shampoo the affected areas or wash them off.

Step 2:  Setup the Ozone Generator

At that point, you are then ready to use your ozone generator. Depending on the type of generator you are using, there are several strategies you could take. For many small generators (such as our OMZ-3400), it is often easiest to set the generator inside the vehicle, open a window just far enough to slip an extension cord in, plug-in the unit and turn the ozone on.

If you are using a generator that has round end caps (such as the OMZ-3600-HFT and up), you have the ability to hook a standard dryer vent tube up to the output of the generator and pipe the ozone into the vehicle. This generally requires that the user find some way to plug up the rest of the window, since running a dryer tube generally requires a large gap in the window (see the image below as an example, where foam packaging sheets have been used).

Ozonating a Car

Step 3:  The Ozone Treatment

Once or twice throughout the course of the ozone treatment it is advisable to turn the vehicle on, set the car’s ventilation system to re-circulate, and run the fans for about 15 minutes at a time.  This pulls ozone through the heating/cooling ducts to deodorize those areas.  If instead you know that the odor is originating somewhere within the ventilation system, you may need to run the fans longer (or more often) to effectively remove the smell.  If your car batteries can handle the job, you may be able to run the fans while the car remains off – but that will vary by vehicle.

Once the ozone in running, the total time necessary depends on the type of odor, the severity of the odor, the size of the vehicle, and a variety of other factors.  In essence, each case is a little different.  You may want to  stop the process after 8 hours to check your progress – turn off the generator, let the vehicle air out, and give the interior a “sniff” test to see if the original odor has been affected.  Perhaps the treatment will be finished, perhaps you can continue with a lesser amount of ozone (turn the dial down) or perhaps you’ll need to run it for another day or more at full output.

Step 4:  Post-Treatment “Residual Ozone Smell”

In some instances, ozone treatments in confined spaces can lead to what’s known as “residual ozone smell”.  This is a smell that you’ll recognize as similar to ozone, but is actually leftovers (by-products) from the ozone reactions.  Usually this occurs as by-products collect on soft surfaces (fabrics and carpets) during treatment, but it is a temporary odor and will go away in time.  To speed things up, you can try the following:

• Let the car air out:  go for a ride with the windows down, park in garage with the windows down
• Wipe down dash, seats, etc with a damp rag
• Vacuum carpets

Safety!

Keep in mind that both ozone and carbon monoxide (exhaust fumes) can be dangerous in enclosed areas.  If you are going to be ozone-treating your car while it is parked in a garage, remember to open the garage door when you need to run the vehicle.  Ozone may also drift out of the vehicle into the surrounding areas, so take proper ozone safety precautions.

• Fix the Problem
• Remove the Source of the Odor
• Ozone Usage – Starting the Generator
• Ozone Usage – Fans and Airflow
• Ozone Usage – Shutting off the Generator
• Ozone Safety Precautions – Plants, Pets and People
• Ozone Safety Precautions – Asthma

Fix the Problem (if one exists)

Skunk living under your house causing a skunk odor?  That’s a problem.  Water constantly leaking in your basement allowing mold to grow?  That is also a problem.  These types of situations need to be remedied before using an ozone generator, so ask around and see what needs to be done (even if it means contacting a professional). If such a problem is allowed to continue, the smell will never really go away regardless of treatment.

Remove the Source of the Odor (as Best as Possible)

As effective as it is, ozone is not a magical odor removal tool.  There is almost always some level of preliminary cleaning that needs to take place before using ozone.  Many times this cleaning has been done before people start investigating ozone, but there are certainly cases where the process has not yet begun.  To use an exaggerated example, one would not expect odor to be permanently removed from a room if a pile of rotting meat was left in the middle of the floor – there would simply be too much material left emitting odor.  Similarly, if untreated pet stains exist in a carpet or if untreated nicotine/ smoke residue is coating walls and ceilings, then those odors will likely come back over time even after an ozone treatment.

What you need to remember is that ozone breaks down odor at a molecular level, so over the course of an ozone treatment you need to produce enough ozone molecules to react with all of the odor-causing molecules in your house.  The better you have cleaned the source, the better the ozone will treat the scent that remains.

Again, cleanup strategies will vary from case to case so do some Google’ing or call us for advice on how to get started.

Ozone Usage – Starting the Generator

Before starting your ozone generator, you will want to consider what areas need to be treated and the size of your generator.  As always, start by reviewing and following the Safety Precautions outlined below!  If you only need to treat a single room (or if you only have a small generator) then you will want to place the generator in the room, plug it in, turn it on, and then exit the room.  When you close the door, place a folded towel along the bottom to help seal the gap between the door and the floor.

If instead you are going to treat an entire house or apartment, you will likely need to make plans to stay elsewhere for the duration of the treatment.  You will then need to setup your generator to maximize ozone movement through the entire dwelling, or make plans to stop in during treatment and move the generator so that over the course of the treatment each area gets adequate exposure.  The section on fans and airflow is good knowledge for anyone treating a house.

Ozone Usage – Fans and Airflow

Using fans to help distribute air during an ozone treatment can help ensure that all of the rooms and corners of a house get exposure.  Always keep in mind that ozoneated air is slightly heavier than the air we breathe, so in a two-story structure it is easier for ozone to come down from the upper floors rather than moving up.  In rooms with high ceilings, fans may be necessary to ensure that your ceiling gets treated.

If your house or apartment has a forced air (central air) system, another strategy is to pump the ozone throughout the house using your air ducts.  Generally these systems have an air intake (or several), which flow through a filter before they go back through the rest of the house.  What you can do is remove the filter (dirty filters hold odor, so you will want to replace this after treatment anyways), then setup the generator right next to the main air intake.  Then when you turn the AC/Heater fan to “On” (rather than “Auto”), the fan should run continuously, pulling ozone directly into the ducts and distributing it to any area of the house with vents.  This has the side effect of deodorizing your ducts as well, which are often known for holding odors.

Ozone Usage – Shutting off the Generator

When your treatment time is done, or when you need to turn off and/or move the ozone generator, it is best to use a multi-step approach.

1. Hold your breath, enter the area, and shut off the machine.
2. Wait 30 – 45 minutes for the ozone to break down.
3. Help the area air out by opening doors and windows and turning fans on. (If the fans and forced air system fan were used for the time of treatment, they can be left on for the airing out process as well)

HINT: If your generator has a timer, you can have it shut off at a particular time – giving the ozone time to break down before you show up to air things out.

HINT: Another approach is to use an extension cord to plug the generator into an easily accessible outlet. That way, a person can avoid most of step 1, needing to reach into the house to unplug the cord at most.

Ozone Safety Precautions – Pets, Plants and People

In concentrated doses, ozone is a respiratory irritant that can cause a tickle in your throat or a bout of coughing depending on how much you breathe in. When using an ozone generator, always take care to keep pets, plants and people (the 3 P’s) out of the area that is being treated.

In serious cases where an entire house is treated nonstop for 7 days straight, this could mean vacating the house and relocating your pets and plants to another location for a week. In other instances, people are able to run a generator while they are gone working then return home to air out the house and spend evenings at home.
If instead one room is being treated at a time, it is generally safe to be in the house during treatment as long as the room is relatively sealed and the 3 P’s avoid that area.

Ozone Safety Precautions – Asthma

This situation deserves it’s own section.  As a respiratory irritant, ozone has a more pronounced effect on asthmatics.  As a precaution, people with asthma should take care to avoid ozone treatment areas entirely.  If there is nobody available to help shut off and air out the ozone for you, refer to the extension cord idea mentioned above and give the ozone plenty of time to break down before entering the area.

Parents who have children in diapers know that the battle against dirty-diaper odor isn’t easily won. As the father of a two-year-old, I often find myself cringing as I step into our son’s nursery and breath in the stink drifting from the diaper bucket. Even after performing the inglorious task of taking out the diaper trash, the odor lingers. What’s a parent to do?

While it may be that the only permanent solution to dirty-diaper odor is potty training, I’ve found that applying an ozone shock treatment is a great way to remove the lingering odor. After a treatment, our nursery gets a fresh start, smelling nice and clean again. There’s no hint of dirty diapers.

The process I use is simple. Obviously, the first step is to empty the diaper bucket. Then I simply plug in and switch on my ozone generator and shut the door to the room. Two hours later, our nursery smells like a fresh breeze! It’s just that easy.

Some points to note:

1. If you think your nursery smells a little, chances are that guests to your home, who are not used to dirty diaper odor, will be able to smell it through your whole house. An ozone treatment is a great way for your house to avoid the “stinky” label.
2. The generator I use is an OMZ-700.  It works greats for removing a wide variety odors from a single room.
3. An ozone shock treatment should only be performed in a vacated room.  It’s fine to step into the room to switch the generator off, but you and your kids (or pets) shouldn’t hang out in there while the treatment is going.

Basically, ozone removes odor by destroying the molecules, bacteria, and spores that cause unpleasant smells.  Ozone (O3) is a highly reactive molecule and is very quick to chemically react with particles that it comes into contact with in the air and on surfaces.  The extra oxygen atom in the ozone attaches itself to other molecules, chemically changing their structure to create non-offensive molecules – eliminating the smell

How Ozone Breaks Down Odor

When considering bacteria and spores the same process applies, with ozone attacking the outer shell of the cell causing it to break down.  When the outer shell degrades, the cell itself breaks apart and dies.

With this in mind, it makes sense that a situation with stronger odor (and more odor-causing  molecules or particles) requires more ozone to remove the smell  -  there needs to be enough ozone to react with all of the offensive molecules it encounters.  This requires either A) a longer ozone treatment  or B) higher concentrations of ozone (a larger ozone generator).  Check out this chart of common odors to see typical treatment times for common problems.

One common scenario involves people who have “tried everything” to get rid of a smell, but are still left with lingering scents that just don’t seem to go away.  One reason that ozone is effective in these situations is because, as a gas, ozone effectively “cleans” any place that air can go.  This includes air, walls, ceilings, ductwork, carpet fibers, gaps between floorboards, cracks in walls, and more.  Ozone is able to penetrate into these areas and destroy odors that it finds there.

So how does ozone get rid of smells?  It chemically breaks down odor-causing molecules in any area where air is allowed to flow.

After a fire, it is common for clothing and personal items to retain a smoke or soot smell. Getting the smell out of those items hinges on many things, including how hot the fire got, how close the items were to the fire, and whether the items themselves were scorched. For large-scale soot cleanup and deodorizing, you may need to call in a Disaster Recovery specialist.

If instead you need to remove a smoke smell from a few articles of clothing, here are a few pointers:

1. Is the item salvageable? If the item itself is scorched, then the item will likely continue to emit odor regardless of the treatment used.
2. Check if your local dry cleaner or launderer utilizes ozone treatments. If so, then they should be able to properly clean and deodorize your clothing.
3. If not, ozone them yourself after they are cleaned by renting an ozone machine.