Ozone is comprised of three atoms of oxygen - one of nature's basic elements.
Because the ozone absorbs the sun's energy, people on earth are protected from the damaging and potentially cancer-causing rays of the sun. Nature also produces ozone nearer to the earth's surface each time lightning flashes. The sweet, fresh smell observed after a thunderstorm is the fresh ozone in the air. Ozone as a water purifier Ozone's practical use as a water purifier was discovered in the late 1800's in the Netherlands. Its first large-scale use was the installation of an ozone purification plant for the city of Nice, France in 1906.