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Differences Between Ionizers & Ozonizers

Ionizers and ozonizers are touted for their ability to clean and purify air or water. Both systems use electricity to create charged particles. However, ionizers and ozonizers are controversial topics. Ionizers and ozonizers both have ozone as a byproduct, but the two items are not the same thing and are used for different purposes.

Air Ionizers
- Ionizers come in two forms: one for the air and one for water. Air ionizers run air through an electrical system, charging the particles into ions. In many of the air ionizers used to clean the air, the negatively charged ions are then attracted to grids that are positively charged, removing the particles from the air. Another system causes the particles to attract to one another and drip from the air. Ozone is a byproduct of this process along with other charged particles. Air ionizers are not trying to produce only ozone like an ozonizer is.
Water Ionizers
- Water ionizers break water down into two different components and produce hydronium, H30 and hydroxide, OH by running the water through a charged system. Proponents claim this balances the alkaline and acid levels within your body by breaking the water down into hydronium, which is an alkaline, and OH, which is an acid. Others argue that water ionizers do not work and only produce oxygen and hydrogen gas at high costs to the consumer.
Ozonizers
- The ozonizer, also called an ozone generator, is used to produce only ozone -- accomplished by negatively charging the air to create ozone, O3. Ozone in the upper atmosphere protects the planet from harmful UV rays; at lower atmospheric levels, ozone is toxic and dangerous to life. Ozonizers claim to kill bacteria and molds and remove smells from the air. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) stands opposed to these claims, stating that ozonizers are ineffective since the ozone either does not react with the particles or the reactions take much longer time frames to achieve.
Combined Devices
- The ozonizer does not remove particles from the air. In many cases, the ozonizer is combined with an ionizer to produce a combined device. The ozonizer produces ozone, and the ionizer is designed to remove airborne particles from the air. The EPA states that the effectiveness of ionizers varies widely by manufacturer and that ionizers are not as effective as other filters on the market such as the HEPA filter system.

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