# Lotus Sanitizing System... is this for real? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 16, 2006, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lotus-sanitizing-system-is-this-for-real/372960 "2006-09-16T15:29:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Satellite\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Satellite\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Satellite_Guy)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2006, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lotus-sanitizing-system-is-this-for-real/372960/1 "2006-09-16T15:29:33Z")
… or is it just the newest snake oil? I saw a commercial this morning, for [this product](http://www.sharperimagebest.com/ts600.html) and frankly, I remain skeptical… … and so I throw it out to the faithful Dopers; real or sham? ---
**Author:** ![groman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/73ab20/32.png) [@groman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/groman)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2006, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lotus-sanitizing-system-is-this-for-real/372960/2 "2006-09-16T16:14:01Z")
Umm, well, snake oil usually purports some effect that does not work. Reading this page this doesn’t actually claim to DO anything quantifiable. At least not something that wiping all your fruit with Everclear wouldn’t do ---
**Author:** ![Satellite\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Satellite\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Satellite_Guy)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2006, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lotus-sanitizing-system-is-this-for-real/372960/3 "2006-09-16T16:32:15Z")
> [@](#): > > How strong is ozonated water compared to chemical sanitizers? > Chlorine is a very common germ-killing agent and water infused with ozone has been shown to be 50% more effective than chlorine across a wider spectrum of microorganisms; also, ozonated water is virtually instant - about 3,000 times faster acting than chlorine bleach. this seems a bit more quantifiable than wiping fruit with drinking water… (btw, the quote is from the FAQ on the link’s site ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2006, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lotus-sanitizing-system-is-this-for-real/372960/4 "2006-09-16T16:33:05Z")
> [@groman](#): > > At least not something that wiping all your fruit with Everclear wouldn’t do I think that’s the question. Is ozonated water an effective disinfectant, like ethanol is? Some claims are laughable, like this: > [@](#): > > Washing produce in ozonated water neutralizes as much as 99 percent of pesticide residues. The ozone hasn’t got a damned thing to do with the “neutralizing” effect here; it’s just that the pesticides are water-soluble, and even if they’re not, scrubbing will at least get them _off the food,_ whether the water is ozonated or not. How effective it is as a contact disinfectant is another thing. A little bit silly how they claim to be a “non-chemical” alternative, for sure. Hello, ozone is a _scaaaary_ and even _poisonous_ chemical, exactly as dangerous and worthy of fearing as most common contact disinfectants. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2006, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lotus-sanitizing-system-is-this-for-real/372960/5 "2006-09-16T17:07:32Z")
Is ozone really going to remain in solution when sprayed out onto a germ laden surface. Wouldn’t it just evaporate? ---
**Author:** ![Jake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jake)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2006, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lotus-sanitizing-system-is-this-for-real/372960/6 "2006-09-16T18:21:45Z")
“Ozone-activated lotus water kills 99.9 percent of germs instantly on contact.” Taken from their ad. 99.9 percent of what germs? E-coli? Or each and every germ that exists? I don’t think so. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![spingears](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@spingears](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spingears)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2006, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lotus-sanitizing-system-is-this-for-real/372960/7 "2006-09-16T21:31:45Z")
> [@Satellite^Guy](#): > > … or is it just the newest snake oil? > I saw a commercial this morning, for [this product](http://www.sharperimagebest.com/ts600.html) and frankly, I remain skeptical… > … and so I throw it out to the faithful Dopers; real or sham? Big joke on the folks at S.I. Looks like they got taken in on this one. You and me both. Grossly overpriced at $199 A “D-Cell” battery at $5.95 Microfiber cloths 2 for $4.95 required of course for best results. A roll of any brand paper towels and a used spray bottle filled with tapwater and a few drops of dishwashing liquid will likely prove to be just as good. If you didn’t know which one you were using you couldn’t tell the difference. ---
**Author:** ![constanze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f9ae1b/32.png) [@constanze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/constanze)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2006, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lotus-sanitizing-system-is-this-for-real/372960/8 "2006-09-16T21:40:46Z")
Why would you need to disinfect your tap water? Are there no health regulations about how clean your tap water needs to be in your country? Are there no controls of the levels of dangerous stuff in your tap water? That aside, to answer the question if ozone generally disinfects water, the answer is yes. [Obligatory Wikipedia link](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ozone#Industrial_applications) > [@](#): > > Many municipal drinking water systems kill bacteria with ozone instead of the more common chlorine. Because of the problems associated with breathing the chlorine fumes in the swimming pools (there was another thread about that), some swimming pools use ozone as supplement for disinfection (although it’s not without problems of its own in application.) ---
**Author:** ![Bewildebeest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@Bewildebeest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bewildebeest)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2006, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lotus-sanitizing-system-is-this-for-real/372960/9 "2006-09-16T23:36:47Z")
According to [this](http://http://www.lenntech.com/ozone/ozone-decomposition.htm) site the half life of ozone disolved in water is very short. You’ll only have half as much ozone in your spray after only 30 minutes at 15 C. Now I don’t recall them saying what the ozone was supposedly disolved in, but if it’s alcohol, you might just as well just use the alcohol as your disinfectant. Waving the Bull shitometer over that ad gives a rating of 99.9% bull. ---
**Author:** ![groman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/73ab20/32.png) [@groman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/groman)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2006, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lotus-sanitizing-system-is-this-for-real/372960/10 "2006-09-17T04:27:12Z")
> [@](#): > > Chlorine is a very common germ-killing agent and water infused with ozone has been shown to be 50% more effective than chlorine across a wider spectrum of microorganisms; also, ozonated water is virtually instant - about 3,000 times faster acting than chlorine bleach. Either that’s a typo or a lie. Water infused with ozone should not be 50% more effective than **chlorine** at killing anything. **Pure chlorine** (as in elemental chlorine gas or Hypochlorous acid, or whatever it is they are referring to) will kill everything, including humans. I’m fairly sure that whatever can survive pure chlorine is a biological oddity. Now, chlorinated water is another story. ---
**Author:** ![constanze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f9ae1b/32.png) [@constanze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/constanze)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2006, 8:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lotus-sanitizing-system-is-this-for-real/372960/11 "2006-09-17T08:08:39Z")
I think they mean “water infused with ozone” is more effective than “water infused with chlorine”, not pure chlorine. Because not only does pure chlorine kill you, it’s also a gas, so not very useful to swipe down counters with. ---
**Author:** ![Qwakkeddup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/90ced4/32.png) [@Qwakkeddup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qwakkeddup)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2006, 8:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lotus-sanitizing-system-is-this-for-real/372960/12 "2006-09-17T08:31:25Z")
I know they put ozone through water to sanitize it for botteling, but I really don’t think the O2 stays in the water. In my opinion, snake oil. ---
**Author:** ![constanze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f9ae1b/32.png) [@constanze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/constanze)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2006, 9:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lotus-sanitizing-system-is-this-for-real/372960/13 "2006-09-17T09:19:45Z")
(Nitpick) O3, not O2 (/Nitpick) Yes, that’s what I would suspect, too. After all, CO2 and chlorine - which are also gases - disperse pretty quickly, too. So if the purpose of this machine is to sanitize the water coming out of the tap because it’s unhygienc - that works. But if the promise is that you can use this water to disinfect things by washing them - I’m skeptical, and I don’t see the need. Why wash fruits with ozone water, instead of normal water? Why use special water to clean your counter, instead of squirting normal cleaning soap onto the pad? ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2006, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lotus-sanitizing-system-is-this-for-real/372960/14 "2006-09-17T16:00:12Z")
> [@Qwakkeddup](#): > > I know they put ozone through water to sanitize it for botteling, but I really don’t think the O2 stays in the water. It does stay dissolved for a while, but the problem is that O[sub]3[/sub] dissociates rather quickly into diatomic oxygen (O[sub]2[/sub]). The reaction is 2 O[sub]3[/sub] → 3 O[sub]2[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2006, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lotus-sanitizing-system-is-this-for-real/372960/15 "2006-09-17T16:25:08Z")
> [@Bewildebeest](#): > > According to [this](http://http://www.lenntech.com/ozone/ozone-decomposition.htm) site the half life of ozone disolved in water is very short. Good find, but lemme fix that [link](http://www.lenntech.com/ozone/ozone-decomposition.htm) for you.