"Sam Anderson" <voltaic@ou.edu> wrote in message
news:Xns94939E16524ABvoltaicouedu@68.12.19.6...[color=blue]
> has anyone heard of/used ozonated water as a starilizing agent for bottles
> and other equipment? the reason i ask is that i remember seeing a
> documentary type thing about bottling and (i think it was pepsi) that uses
> ozonated water to starilize their cans before filling them with product.
>
> anyway, if anyone has any information as to the effectiveness and
> suitability of this method of sterilization to brewing, please let me[/color]
know.[color=blue]
>[/color]

I remember from a few college courses that ozone (O3) is an effective
sterilant. It can be used to disinfect both drinking water and treated
sewage. But, it is not widely used because it is very expensive.

As a homebrewer, I can't imagine it being a cheap or practical method. You
could probably find it from an indutrial gas supplier, but I doubt that you
would be able to walk into a gas supply shop and purchase a 10 pound
cylindar of the stuff. The samllest cylindar available would probably be
100+ pounds.

Also, I don't think you could buy ozonated water. It was a long time ago
since those sanitary engineering courses, but I think the ozone breaks down
readily into regular oygen (O2). Pepsi probably has the capabilities to
ozonate water immediately prior to sanitizing their cans and bottles. Maybe
the fact that ozone breaks down into oxygen is the reason Pepsi would use
it, rather than having to deal with residual chemicals.