Cleaning with Water: What You Need to Know

Water has always had a place in cleaning, but only recently has it been getting the attention it deserves. In the last decade, “chemical-free cleaning” has become a popular concept and, as the trend continues to take hold, so does interest in “pure” and “engineered” water.

In the professional cleaning industry, water isn't just water. In fact, there's a lot of science that goes into creating these liquids, especially for them to clean with impressive results. Some of these technologies don't yet have practical applications in the residential cleaning market. But it's important for housecleaners to know about new technologies that may soon affect their business, too – especially if you also offer office cleaning services.

Pure Water

Pure water is tap water that has had all minerals removed in a special filtration process called demineralization. This soil isn't visible, and typically isn't an issue. If you clean with tap water, however, you're sure to leave streaks everywhere you go thanks to those foreign substances.

There are two demineralization methods, deionization (DI) and reverse osmosis (RO). These processes remove things like sodium, calcium, iron, copper, chloride, and sulfate from tap water, leaving only pure H2O.

In a DI system, tap water runs through specially designed resin. The minerals bind to the resin, allowing only pure water to pass. The resin must be regularly changed, but quick-change bags make this process easy.

In an RO system, a pump pushes tap water at a high pressure through a semi-permeable membrane. This channels the minerals out of the system to leave only pure water. Electricity is required for the pump and the membrane can become blocked if used infrequently.

Pure water is most often combined with water-fed pole systems that allow maintenance crews to clean large banks of exterior windows quickly, without using squeegees and without leaving streaks. But many residential cleaning companies that clean larger, multi-story homes are beginning to use pure water systems too. Now they can offer additional cleaning services they might otherwise have to subcontract to another type of cleaning company such as a window washing company.

While pure water is still primarily used for exterior windows, the same technology can be applied indoors for residential housecleaning as well. Equipment manufacturers like Unger offer more pure water cleaning systems (using microfiber textiles) for indoor glass and other nonporous surfaces.

The indoor systems leave no chemical residue, which means dirt doesn't quickly redeposit on the surface. This can reduce cleaning frequencies and help cut labor hours by 20 to 50%.

Pure water also has environmental benefits because it eliminates the need for window and glass cleaning chemicals.

Engineered Water

Another, relatively newer technology is engineered water. Several things fall into this category, including electrolyzed water, aqueous ozone, and steam vapor.

Electrolyzed water combines tap water, salt, and electricity to create two cleaning agents. In this process, water passes through two chambers. One has a negative (alkaline) electrical charge, which produces a general-purpose cleaner. The other has a positive (acidic) charge, which creates a sanitizer/disinfectant. The two streams are split for separate dispensing.

The alkaline product is sodium hydroxide. It's a degreaser-detergent that quickly breaks down stubborn oils (it may leave a film on mirrors or windows).

The acidic cleaner is known as hypochlorous acid. It has powerful germ-killing properties and is 80 times more effective than bleach, according to the U.S Environmental Protection Agency. It can be used as a sanitizer for toilets, sinks, faucets, handrails, food prep surfaces, or any other common touch points.

These products, which are available through janitorial distributors, are pricier than traditional chemicals. But they're natural and don't emit harmful volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which reduces workers' and building occupants' exposure to caustic chemicals.

Aqueous ozone (also called ozonated water or liquid ozone) adds an extra atom to tap water, converting it to O3. The resulting solution acts just like a traditional cleaning chemical.

Housecleaners can purchase liquid ozone sprayers to convert water into aqueous ozone. It remains potent for about 15 minutes, so it must be used right away. (Stabilized aqueous ozone systems offer up to 3 days of use, but require on-site installation of a machine, not practical in the residential market).

The USDA has approved ozonated water for sanitizing food processing work surfaces since 2001, but it's not an EPA-registered disinfectant and shouldn't be used in place of a disinfectant. Ozonated water is safe for users.

Steam vapor turns tap water into steam. (It's different than steam cleaning, which uses far more water.) A sealed boiler heats tap water to an extremely high temperature (240 to 280 degrees) to form a fine, dry mist. When applied to a surface, the heat softens grease and oils, which can then be wiped or vacuumed up.

This process is green and safe. It also requires less physical effort, which can help reduce costly worker injuries.

Although steam vapor systems have been around since the 1970's, the early models were expensive and cumbersome. Models of steam vapor machines on the market today are lighter, easier to use, and affordable. Residential systems start out with a price tag of around $300.

Final Thoughts About Cleaning With Water

Cleaning with water certainly isn't a new concept, but it has been overlooked for many decades as the cleaning industry relied more and more on chemicals. Maybe it's time to give water another try.

By eliminating toxic chemicals and the risks and hazards associated with them, water-based cleaning systems are ideal for residential cleaning companies that want to market themselves as green.

There are also practical considerations. The average all-purpose cleaning chemical costs about 15 cents per ounce. A gallon of water costs about 8 cents per gallon. Switching even one chemical to a water-based system can dramatically cut costs.

Most cleaning companies can reduce their chemical needs from 10 to 20 to just three after investing in one of these systems. This also allows workers to be more efficient (no more switching from one product to the next) and reduces training time on a variety of chemicals.

And, of course, there are potential savings by reducing injuries and the related worker's compensation costs.

Water will probably never completely eliminate the need for chemicals in the cleaning process. But enhanced water technologies show great promise in helping residential cleaning companies reduce their dependence on harmful chemicals and become safer, healthier stewards for their employees, their clients and their homes, and the planet.