The Watered- Down Truth
Where would we be without water? It covers over 70% of the Earth’s surface and without it, life would be impossible. Its absence can cause problems ranging from the minor, such as a hosepipe ban for gardeners, to the major, such as the wide-ranging failure of crops and the food shortages that naturally follow. Access to safe water is also essential to health; according to the World Health Organisation (WHO)/ UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme Report 2013 update, 768 million people in the world do not have access to safe water, which is roughly one in ten of the world’s population.
Another sobering statistic, this time from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Report 2006, is that half of the hospital beds in developing countries are filled with people suffering from diseases caused by poor water, sanitation and hygiene. Water is, therefore, an absolute necessity – and its importance to the cleaning industry is obvious. However, when it comes to window cleaning, water has gone through something of a transformation, helping professionals to deliver even better results thanks to advances in technology.
Why – and how – do you
purify water? Purified water has many different uses; it plays an important role in laboratory testing, for scientific and engineering purposes, and in a number of other industry sectors such
52 | WORKING AT HEIGHT
as cosmetics and pharmaceuticals. In freshwater and marine aquariums, it helps keep fish free of disease because it doesn’t contain impurities such as copper or chlorine.
Processes such as carbon filtration, microfiltration, ultrafiltration, ultraviolet oxidation and electrodialysis can be used to purify water, but reverse osmosis (RO) and deionisation (DI) have emerged as the most popular methods when it comes to window cleaning.
• Reverse osmosis – In this method, water is pressed through a membrane with a relatively high pressure of 10 bars. During this process, the ions in the water are filtered out with water molecules that are attracted to these ions. This method allows the professional window cleaner to work more hours in a row and with lower maintenance costs, so it is recommended for frequent usage of pure water.
• Deionisation – DI is a chemical process that uses specially- manufactured ion-exchange resins to remove mineral ions from the water. This includes cations such as sodium, calcium, iron and copper, as well as anions like chloride and sulphate. As 100% of the incoming water can be used, this results in the production of almost 100% pure water, as opposed to 60% output of pure water with RO – this method is therefore recommended for the low or medium usage of pure water.
Water is vital for the survival and health of all forms of life. Torsten Deutzmann, Strategic Business Unit Director of Unger, explained how ways to enhance water purity have advanced, giving better results for the professional cleaner.
Purified water is important to window cleaners – and other cleaning professionals such as car valeters – because it dries without leaving the spots caused by dissolved solutes, which can be found in ‘normal’ water. Pure water delivers a better result, with no smears or streaks, boosting productivity and results.
Water-fed poles have become the equipment of choice for professional window cleaners, allowing them to clean high buildings and windows safely from the ground, alleviating the need to work at height. Pure water is used in this type of cleaning because it doesn't compromise in terms of clarity – glass surfaces are left sparklingly clear, without the need for chemicals.
The most effective DI systems on the market stream water by line pressure through a mixed-based resin, which initiates an ion-exchange process that binds the minerals and impurities and holds them back. These impurities are known as Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) and are measured in parts per million (ppm) – water is considered pure when its TDS is measured at 0ppm. The best DI systems deliver 100% pure water with no electrical power required, making them immediately usable onsite, and offering a high level of water production per hour. ‘Plug and play’ options, where you simply connect the hoses and switch on the system, are also the most convenient to use.
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