Introduction

The ability of ozone to disinfect polluted water was recognized in 1886 by de Meritens. In 1889, the French chemist Marius Paul Otto began studying ozone at La Sorbonne University in Paris. In 1897, he obtained a doctorate degree for his thesis on ozone, the first of its kind. The 1960s saw widespread introduction of several new applications for ozone. Many of these new applications required that ozone be added during the early stages of treatment, hence the term preozonation. The ability of ozone to control algal growth and the improved treatment in the presence of an algal bloom was first exploited in France in the late 1970s. In the Middle East, very few ozonation plants for drinking water treatment exist. The town of Aleppo, Syria, is supplied by four plants using ozone, the oldest dating back to 1951. The chapter also presents an overview on the key concepts discussed in this book.