Adding PureStar Ozone to an Existing Equipment Pad

Ozone gets treated as something you plan for at the design stage, because equipment pads are crowded and adding another device means cutting into pipe that already works. AquaStar built its PureStar™ ozone generator around that objection. The company says it needs under 18 inches of plumbing and goes into either a retrofit or new construction. This article covers what the unit is, what ozone does next to a sanitizer, and what to settle before it is added to a pad that already has equipment on it.

What PureStar is, in AquaStar's words

AquaStar describes PureStar as a geodesic corona-discharge ozone generator that makes up to 1 g/hour, with smart vacuum-controlled activation and self-regulating flow. It won a 2023 Pool Nation Award, and the company's press material names it among the products honored that year. Pool Nation's podcast also devoted an episode to it, number E-152.

Corona discharge is the method. Air passes through an electrical field, and some of the oxygen in it is converted to ozone, a molecule made of three oxygen atoms. That ozone is then drawn into the water. Ozone is unstable, so it is made on site as it is needed and not stored.

What ozone does alongside a sanitizer

Ozone is a strong oxidizer. It reacts with organic contaminants in the water and breaks them down on contact. It does not stay in the water afterward as a measurable residual, so it is a supplement to a sanitizer program and not a substitute for one. Treat anything promising otherwise with suspicion, and ask your pool pro how the two should be balanced for your pool.

This article gives no dosing figures, and it makes no health claims. What it can report is what an owner wrote. A Google reviewer named Nick Gonzalez, describing his own pool, wrote that "the Ozone Generator has our pool looking clearer than ever!" That is one owner's experience with one installation.

Why under 18 inches matters on an existing pad

On a retrofit, every new fitting is a cut, a glue joint and a cure time. A device that needs only a short run of plumbing asks for fewer of them, and it asks for less room on a pad that has grown over the years. That is the practical meaning of the under 18 inch figure. It is a statement about how much pipe the unit occupies, not about how long the whole job takes, and the job also includes power and mounting.

AquaStar's own install photo shows the result: a Pipeline Filter on an installed pad with the blue PureStar injector next to it. If you are looking at a pad of your own, measure the space and the pipe run before you order. Your distributor can confirm whether the geometry works.

Vacuum-controlled activation, explained

AquaStar says activation is smart and vacuum-controlled, and that the flow is self-regulating. The wording points to the vacuum created as water moves past the injector as the trigger. The practical consequence is that an ozone generator should only produce while water is moving, since ozone with no flow has nowhere to go.

Treat that explanation as general. How a specific unit senses flow on a specific system is a question for the install guide and the distributor. If the pad also has a variable-speed pump, check the guide for the lowest pump speed at which the PureStar activates, so the energy savings on the pump do not quietly switch the ozone off.

Retrofit or new build

• Retrofit: measure the space and the plumbing run, confirm the pump and filter already on the pad, and have your pool pro handle the plumbing and electrical work.
• New build: place the unit in the pad layout from the start, so it sits with the filter and pump and not behind them.
• Either way: use the install guides reached through the QR codes in the 2026 Buyer's Guide Digital Catalog.
• Either way: ask your distributor for the current price, because AquaStar does not publish one.

AquaStar also packages PureStar as part of The New 3, with a Pipeline Pump and a Pipeline Filter. If your pad already has a filter and pump you like, the unit can go in on its own. The company donates a portion of proceeds from every sale of Pipeline Filters, Pipeline Pumps and PureStar Ozone Systems to Every Child a Swimmer, a program it announced a partnership with in November 2024.

To find your nearest distributor, or to ask whether PureStar suits your equipment, call AquaStar in Ventura at (877) 768-2717, Monday to Friday, 7:30 AM to 4:30 PM.