SPECIALIST CLEANING
AQUEOUS OZONE: THE HOT NEW TREND
Robert Kravitz, a US-based writer for the professional cleaning industry, examines the increasingly popular movement towards aqueous ozone cleaning systems, looking at the history of this technology, and the benefits it brings to the cleaning world.
Cleaning professionals around the globe, along with their customers and building managers, are likely to be hearing two new terms used in the professional cleaning industry. These are ‘onsite generation’ and ‘aqueous ozone’ and as we shall discuss, they are very likely to have more implications – and result in more ways to effectively clean a variety of surfaces from counters, to carpets, to floors, and fixtures – than may be realised today.
First, what do we mean by onsite generation? According to Michael Draper, CEO of CleanCore Technologies, which manufactures aqueous ozone cleaning systems marketed in North America and in other parts of the world: “On-site generation refers to [the use of] cleaning solutions and systems that give the user immediate access to cleaning solutions where they are working and when they are needed.”
At this point, you might be saying to yourself that if the cleaning worker has a cleaning cloth and a sprayer, they also have immediate access to cleaning tools where they are working and when they are needed. However, there’s more to it than that.
Typically, onsite generation refers to the use of aqueous ozone cleaning systems, which we will discuss in greater detail later. With these systems, the cleaning worker can clean all those surfaces mentioned earlier: counters, carpet, floors and fixtures. So while our cleaning worker may have a cleaning cloth and sprayer and may be able to use them to clean counters and restroom fixtures onsite when and as needed, they cannot use those same tools to clean carpet and floors.
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This is what we mean by onsite generation. And, according to Draper, when using aqueous ozone, there are other benefits as well, such as:
• The cleaning worker has faster access to cleaning solutions; there is no need to walk to the janitorial closet, select and/or dilute a cleaning solution for use, and then return to the area being cleaned.
• Enhances worker productivity; according to some studies, as much as 15 minutes is wasted each time a cleaning worker needs to visit the janitorial closet; four visits in one shift means an hour of work time is lost just by going to and from the janitorial closet.
• The need for chemical storage is reduced or eliminated.
• Helps minimise if not eliminate the need for ordering and purchasing an array of cleaning products.
• Promotes sustainability; “when fewer cleaning solutions are needed, less product packaging and transporting are necessary as well as the fuel and natural resources necessary to manufacture and transport these items,” added Draper.
WHAT IS AQUEOUS OZONE? Hopefully, we have a better idea of what onsite generation cleaning is all about. Now we need to better understand aqueous ozone.
First, we have to understand there are actually four types of ozone, but only one is used for cleaning.
Stratospheric ozone is six to 30 miles above the Earth’s surface and helps reduce the amount of harmful UV radiation from reaching the planet.
Tropospheric ozone is ground level ozone. This type of ozone may contain a number of pollutants, volatile organic compounds, and other potentially harmful particulates. Smog or haze is a form of tropospheric ozone.
Ambient ozone refers to the ozone we breathe, typically outside. In America, ambient ozone is monitored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and as long as it is within a certain range, it is considered safe.
Aqueous ozone, which is sometimes called liquid ozone, is the cleaning system we are discussing here.
When used for cleaning, aqueous ozone is created mechanically by the interaction of electricity and oxygen. This is then infused into water and the combination can then be dispensed in different ways. “To make the process easier for the cleaning worker,” continued Draper, “some systems are designed to be connected directly to a sink in a janitorial closet.”
Referred to as ‘fill stations,’ these systems dispense the aqueous ozone directly into other cleaning tools. When dispensed from a fill station the aqueous ozone may be used to fill tools such as floor scrubbers, carpet extractors or a hand held sprayer.
Alternatively, the aqueous ozone can be created in what some manufacturers refer to as a ‘caddy’. This unit looks like a rolling upright carpet extractor or a restroom cleaning cart. The Caddy is a versatile cleaning unit that can be used for everything from hard surface cleaning to carpet cleaning. In fact, with the use of a traditional carpet wand, the Caddy becomes a very effective, chemical- free, carpet extractor and at least one system even carries the WoolSafe certification for carpet cleaning.
Tomorrow’s Cleaning June 2016 | 51
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