ORP ceramic ball

Detailed Product Description

ORP is not a word its a set of initials that stand for Oxidation-Reduction Potential or Redox. In very practical terms and as applied to water chemistry its a measurement (expressed in ± millivolts (mV)) that represents that waters ability to oxidize (sanitize) or reduce (not sanitize) contaminants.

 It can also be stated as measuring the tendency for a solution - water in this instance - to gain or lose electrons when it is subject to change by introduction of a new species. A solution with a higher ORP will have a tendency to gain electrons by stripping them from the new species (oxidize it or them) or lose electrons to the new species (reduce it or them).

ORP ranges

Think of a bar of steel placed in a pail of high ORP water. It will rust quickly in the water. However, in a pail of low ORP water it will rust much more slowly.

The same holds true for oxidizing an organic water contaminant such as bacteria, viruses or protozoans. Moderate to high ORP water will aggressively steal electrons from the contaminant and disrupt its cell structure rendering it unable to reproduce or killing it outright.

The range of ORP values will usually be -2000 mV (strongly reducing) to +2000 mV (strongly oxidizing). Usually water chemistry from the POU / POE perspective will need to be a +mV value and moderately (+500mV) to strongly (+750mV) positive.

Type and concentrations of disinfectants and acidifiers need to be modified according to the initial microbial load, mineral content and buffer capacity of the water to be treated. One method to evaluate a good sanitizer is using the oxidation-reduction potential (ORP). The ORP parameter measures the capacity of a sanitizer to be a strong oxidizer for destroying microorganisms or for reacting with some harmful minerals such as iron and manganese. ORP meters can be used to identify the appropriate amount of disinfectant to use for a specific water source. An ORP value in the range of 650 millivolts or greater indicates good quality water that can be effectively sanitized by 0.2 to 0.4 ppm free chlorine. Lower values close to 250 millivolts indicate heavy organic loads that will not be properly disinfected by chlorine. Excellent live broiler performance has been observed in farms that have water with ORP values close to 750 millivolts. Measuring ORP is better than using chlorine pool test kits. These kits do not distinguish between free and bound chlorine. This is important in water with high organic material content.