Makers of modern cleaning products have added surfactant chemicals to water to reduce surface tension and help it spread out in a thin film to reach, dissolve and carry away more dirt, making it a better cleaner. The evidence is mounting that exposure to many common chemical cleaning ingredients - even at low levels - poses long-term health as well as environmental risks.
Technology now allows water's cleaning ability to be enhanced due to the process of electrolysis. This process makes water a more effective cleaner without adding chemicals. Electrolysis or activation, can help replace many all-purpose chemical cleaners, improving both health and environment. "Activating," or adding a tiny charge of electricity to tap water makes it clean better than water in its natural state. When electricity is applied to water, it behaves differently; activated water performs much like water mixed with cleaning chemicals.
Applying a small amount of electricity to water, or electrolysis, breaks down the water's molecules creating positively and negatively charged ions. In some cases, activation adds microscopic oxygen bubbles that carry an electrical charge. The charged ions bond to the dirt and help lift it from the surface. Studies show that electrically activated water can clean as well as traditional general-purpose cleaning chemicals.
Electrolysed water is now being successfully used in the commercial cleaning industry: the technology is found in automatic floor scrubbers, and most recently, it's been incorporated into a hand-held spray device for portable cleaning. The electrically activated water in both of these commercially available devices, by all reports, is completely safe, and returns to its natural state in about 45 seconds.
Electrolysed water in cleaning can be used on the following surfaces:
- Glass
- Stainless steel
- Wood
- Stone
- Marble
- Plastic
- Carpet
Benefits of using electrolysed water for cleaning:
- Can remove bacteria up to 99.99%
- Cost reduction
- Improved traction on walking surfaces
- Reduction in re-soiling, both related to the elimination of residual chemical left behind when using conventional methods
- Independent tests show cleaning with water cleans as well as or better than detergent
Beyond being safer, activated water, when compared to common chemical cleaners, is often much better for the environment, eliminating the need for disposal of potentially-harmful toxins, and reduces resources needed to manufacture, package, and ship chemicals. By using plain water, there is no need to buy bottles of cleaner, saving money and also eliminating packaging. By the numbers, an automatic scrubber user who scrubs 5,000 m2, 7 days/wk can expect to save approximately $1500 on detergent, eliminate the purchase, handling, storage and dispensing of 950 liters of detergent as well as the disposing of approximately 70 kg of packaging materials, on an annual basis.
For more information on the use of electrolysed water for cleaning, visit Tennant