Activated Water And On-site Chemical Generation

Part two of this three-part article focuses on the advantages of on-site generation.

As more and more facilities strive to go green, on-site generation (OSG) machines like the Orbio oS3, have emerged to replace bottles of ready-to-use chemicals with a regenerating, seemingly endless supply of general purpose cleaner.

Although OSG is frequently referred to as “chemical-free cleaning” those behind the technology purport that the solutions created from the machines are indeed chemicals — albeit much less harmful ones. Instead, the technology is referred to as Electrically Activated Water or EAW.

The device looks much like a small water heater and produces two streams of solution: a cleaner, and a disinfectant and sanitizer. Though both streams look like plain water, its makers say the disinfecting and sanitizing solution is a pH-neutral solution of hypochlorous acid, and the cleaner is a low concentration of sodium hydroxide.

The machine consists of a water softener, generator and dispenser. It is plugged into a standard electrical outlet and hooked up to a cold water supply, typically in a janitor’s closet.

Here’s how it works: Water enters the softener, and softened water and a small amount of salt brine are injected into the electrolytic cell, where the mixture is “activated.” Then the e-cell, as it’s called, creates two separate solutions, held on each side of the tank. All in all, the process creates about 50 gallons of cleaner and 25 gallons of disinfectant and sanitizer in a single cycle.

The cleaner solution is effective for 90 days. The disinfectant and sanitizer solution remains active for seven days.

The particular device used by ABM also includes a satellite system that allows the concentrated solutions to be diluted and dispensed at remote locations throughout its facilities using a localized water supply.

“For us, having the innovation on-site and not having to worry about the storage of chemical or having a truck deliver it” has been a big benefit, says France. “But, we couldn’t have people standing around the machine waiting for it to generate new solution. We literally use a machine, on-site, that can generate our high-use cleaning solutions that are portable. That’s very desirable on our side and it keeps people working.”

Since janitors spend less time filling bottles, workers spend more time on cleaning tasks, reducing overall labor costs.