Aquateck from Oxfordshire company GreenTeck Global is a just-launched, innovative, product that looks set to make waves in the commercial cleaning market.
The process is environmentally friendly, green, cost-effective, efficient and safe… since it starts and ends with ordinary a salty brine.
Tap water is fed through a standard water softener and salt is added (0.5 gms per litre – sea water is approximately 30 gms per litre). This solution is then passed through the Aquateck electrolysis unit.
The result is known as AW (Activated Water) contains FAC Freely accessible Chlorine– the world’s strongest natural steriliser – and chlorine (5 ppm, compared to around 1.5 ppm for water in a swimming pool) and produced at a rate of around seven litres a minute.
This AW can be used in a number of ways: spray-bottle applicators, direct application to surfaces, mop and buckets and even via industrial Floor cleaners; effectively replacing the need for aggressive and expensive chemical cleaners,
In a spray-bottle, the AW solution remains active for around 72 hours, but after use there is even no need to rinse because as it works it degrades back to ordinaryH20 and salt.
Greenteck Global already manufactures and markets a range of airborne ozone generators, but its founder David Thurston has high hopes for Aquateck across a wide range of markets that includes care homes and nursing homes, hotels and motels, conference and exhibition facilities, student accommodation / halls of residence in universities, colleges and schools.
Extensive scientific trials of the Aquateck unit have just been completed at the Burlington Court Care Home in Northampton with remarkably impressive results. The large, modern, home has more than 100 residents and is rated ‘Outstanding’ by the CQC, so standards are already high.
Swab tests for Recoverable Live Units (RLUs) were taken both before and after cleaning in different locations around the home on a daily basis and the AW was used in direct competition with the products used in the home’s established cleaning regime. These sites included:
- Door push plates – where frequent use means cross-contamination could be an issue
- Handrails on staircases – also used regularly by staff and residents
- Food contact surfaces – prone to bacteria unless cleaned regularly and thoroughly
- Sluice room – lower than expected starting readings, possibly because of regular use with existing chemicals
- A separate trial was also undertaken in one specific bedroom where staff had identified a persistent odour problem that was proving resistant to treatment.
The results across the fortnight of the trial showed that AW outperformed the existing chemicals across all the test areas: with the exception of just one day where it is believed there may have been an issue with the water supply prior to it entering the activation process.
Pre-cleaning swabs showed lower levels of RLUs, there was a significantly greater per centage reduction in the number of RLUs after cleaning and it appears AW gave greater and longer protection against the reappearance of RLUs. In the bedroom trial, where carpets were treated using AW in home’s own steam-cleaner, staff reported a dramatic reduction in the odour and noted that this seemed to be an on-going improvement.
Burlington Court is owned by Tej Sehmi, along with two other homes in the area, with a new, fourth one currently under construction and due to open next year. He said: “It is fair to say we were very, very impressed with the results.
“It certainly seems we were getting at least as good – if not better results – than with our existing regime. However we could certainly save money by not having to buy the range of chemical products we currently use.
“These products are aggressive and there is potentially the risk of a serious incident if they are misused or accidentally mixed. We have to have COSHH training for our staff to make sure they understand how to use these chemicals and the dangers associated. Whereas with the Aquateck unit there are no COSHH requirements because it is absolutely safe to use. It is also true to say that our staff really liked using the AW because it was literally as easy as turning on the tap . . . odourless, completely safe to use and so no significant risk of any accident.”
David Thurston, who has been involved in the ‘ozone industry’ for around ten years, including time spent in Chine, the USA and Central America where it is already big business, added: “We are really grateful to Tej and all his staff at Burlington Court for giving us the opportunity to carry out this capability demonstrator in the field so to speak.
“I have known for a while just how effective our AW is and we have installations of our other trioxygen generators to back that up, but it is always nice to be able to produce results and hard data to back them up in a real, live working environment.”
