Influence of water acidity on ozone decay time and its applications

The increase in ozone decay time by lowering the p H value of water from p H = 7 to 3 is observed. The decay time drastically decreases as the ethanol concentration increases. It is also noted that the ozone decay times in the electrolyzed ozone water and in the acidic ozone water are identical to each other if they have the same p H value. A simple analytical estimation of viable microbe number after contact with acidic ozone water agrees remarkably well with experimental data, demonstrating the capability of cleaning a large surface area contaminated by toxic biological agents.