Water-engineering company GenEon Technologies US has introduced a water-based sanitation technology through the electrochemical activation (ECA) of water to provide a range of sustainable, multipurpose cleaning and sanitation solutions to small, medium-sized and microenterprises in the hospitality, healthcare, retail, food production and educational sectors in South Africa.

The launch started in June this year, through GenEon Technologies’ appointed distributor, Johannesburg-based cleaning specialist Clean Care Mobile.

GenEon Technologies South Africa MD Marc Du Chenne tells Engineering News that three different products, two types of sanitisers, a general-purpose cleaner and a degreaser are produced through the ECA of mineral salts (called catalysts), or electrolytes, and water in using GenEon-patented generators that deliver various volumes of the solutions.

The sanitisers comprise an A-grade sanitiser with 500 parts per million (ppm) to 800 ppm of free available chlorine, which can eliminate fungi or mould, and a sanitiser with 200 ppm to 250 ppm of free available chlorine, which can be used to sanitise water in an in-line situation in a food factory, for example. Any hard surfaces can also be sanitised by the on-site generated solution, Du Chenne says.

“The water and salts are dispensed into a generator, which are then induced with electricity to create the solutions,” he explains, adding that GenEon Technologies supplies the generators and catalysts to the industry.

Key benefits of using this technology include the ability to produce the solutions on site, without any pollution costs of transportation or waste, thereby also providing a 40% saving against buying expensive traditional-type chemicals, Du Chenne highlights.

Further, the solutions are environment-friendly, as they have zero toxicity.

The efficacy of both sanitising solutions, ultrahigh and normal, has been tested at US-based laboratories in accordance with AOAC protocol. Du Chenne notes that the AOAC good-laboratory practices and procedures confirm that the GenEon solution kills 99.999% of bacteria, such as Listeria, MRSA, Staph, VRE, Pseudomonas, Norovirus, H1N1, Salmonella, and E.coli O157:H7, in less than 60 seconds. Comprehensive test reports from America and Europe are available for inspection.

GenEon Technologies is also in discussion with the South African Bureau of Standards and SGS laboratories in Cape Town to conduct similar tests for locally produced solutions.

The technology is currently being trialled in South Africa at several corporations, including a major restaurant chain, three different hotel groups and a food manufacturer, says Du Chenne.

He notes that, while a similar technology is being applied on a significantly larger scale by a competitor company, for a beverage manufacturer, he nevertheless believes that there is a substantial market gap for the technology in large corporations with multisites, such as hotels, restaurants, hospitals, clinics, schools, food manu- facturers, gymnasiums and golf clubs.

Volume Production
The cleaning and sanitising solutions are produced in a range of generators such as the newly launched, portable Immerse-A-Clean wand-based generator, the Instaflow generator and the Trio and Maxx tabletop devices, as well as the Trio RX.

Meanwhile, the Mist Fogger/Blower allows for the cleaning, sanitising and disinfecting of large open areas such as classrooms, bathrooms and removing tobacco odours from hotel rooms.

The tabletop generators can produce 2 ℓ of solution every four minutes, while the high-volume Instaflow is compact and can be installed in line with factory processes or water lines to generate sanitiser, particularly in the food and beverage industry, Du Chenne explains.

“The TrioMaxx generator produces glass and a general-purpose cleaner, as well as a heavy-duty cleaner, a degreaser and a sanitiser in quantities of 2 ℓ/4 min. The Instaflow high-volume generator can be wall- or cart-mounted, depending on user requirements, and produces 200 ℓ of solution in an hour,” he notes.

Du Chenne adds that the Immerse-A-Clean generator is battery-driven for application anywhere, including remote areas where no electricity is available. “This generator is particularly advantageous in disaster situations, where rivers and drinking water become contaminated,” he concludes.