Aquawing vs. Charge

The Truth About Ozone: Aquawing versus Dissolved Ozone (charge systems)

In the commercial laundry industry many untruths about ozone have been spread. Companies have made claims about ozone's potential, but have failed to deliver the required technology, experience and support in order to deliver great results. This section has been created to address the myths that have been spread about the best method to infuse ozone into the wash process. Manufacturers of Charge systems (aka Dissolved ozone) relentlessly use scare tactics in place of facts to convey a false message and we have addressed these claims in order to convey the truth about ozone injection.

Science:

A charge systems design is basic: The idea is that a small amount of ozone is put into solution (dissolved in the water) before filling the washer so the machine will be filled with ozonated water. The undeniable fact and fundamental flaw in this method is that ozone needs to remain under pressure and to avoid turbulence in order to stay in a solution. Again, this is an undisputable scientific fact. The change in pressure when filling the washing machine and the immense turbulence created by the turning of the washer's basket pulls the ozone out of solution. This disproves the methodology of the charge method altogether.

One manufacturer of this type of system tries to claim that this design is safer, which could not be further from the truth. When the ozone is pulled out of solution, the washer will be filled with ozone gas. If the ozone gas is not properly managed and controlled like with the Aquawing validated ozone system, then it will result in excess ozone escaping into the work environment which may exceed OSHA guidelines. This is called off-gassing (more off-gas information to follow). Contrary to this flawed design, the Aquawing system injects controlled levels of ozone into the water within the washer to avoid these pitfalls of the charge systems.

To control off gassing, charge systems can only inject small amounts of ozone. This results in poor cleaning and minimal disinfection, if any.

Another scientific draw back for a charge system is that as the load progresses, the laundry receives less ozone. Remember, charge systems have ozone dissolved in the water before filling the machine and as basic laundry knowledge tells us: as the load progresses the laundry receives less water. This is because after the linen is saturated with water on the first fill, it does not require as much water on any of the subsequent fills to reach the programmed fill level. Fills following the initial fill supply 60-70% less water (reference: Continental Girbau, Milnor and Unimac consumption calculator). This is an alarming amount when considering the ozone delivered to the washer in a charge system is directly related to the amount of water used: 60% less water equals 60% less ozone.

Aquawing maintains a consistent level of ozone throughout the entire wash process whereas charge systems simply fill washers with "ozonated" water. Ozone is highly reactive and it will be used and gone within the first 2 minutes of the step (much more quickly in a heavily soiled load). This means that in a 10 minute wash of heavily soiled linen, there would only be ozone in the wash for about the first 90 seconds, leaving 7-8 min of cold water washing and no ozone.

The Aquawing system avoids these pitfalls and supplies a consistent amount of ozone continuously throughout the wash process. We do not deliver dissolved ozone because it is not necessary or recommended to dissolve ozone in order to clean laundry. This is automatically regulated by the patented variable ozone system.

Efficiency:

The Aquawing AF system uses the patented variable ozone system, which is an array of reliable and field tested ozone sensors that independently monitor ozone at each washing machine. Aquawing has been using these sensors reliably for over a decade across North America. Furthermore, these ozone sensors allow us to accurately measure and manage ozone in the washer. Charge systems cannot validate ozone in the washing machine basket. Competition tries to scare users, but the truth is that these sensors do not need special maintenance or excessive recalibration and have had no trouble in the marketplace. The ozone sensors used in the Aquawing units are more reliable for monitoring ozone than any other method in the world. Charge systems will use ORP meters and they are notoriously unreliable when used with ozone laundry. For the truth on ORP meters, please see Fact vs Fallacy.

Technology:

An important distinction about the Aquawing is that it is not a generic bubble diffusion system and can not be considered as such. There are great deal of differences between a generic bubble diffusion system and the Aquawing AF Series System. Aquawing introduces Ozone into the sump of the washer with our Patented Interfuse helping to ensure great results and proper disinfection. The primary technological difference between an AF system and any other system is that the AF system is able to reliably, and automatically, control the amount of ozone within the wash wheel by using the patented variable ozone system explained above. Any bubble diffusion system without this technology must have the ozone set at a low level in order to prevent off-gassing. If a 60lb washer is started with only a single towel in it, the ozone must be at a low enough to prevent off-gas, BUT that same level needs to be sufficient for disinfecting and cleaning heavily soiled loads.. Without our patent-pending variable ozone, this is impossible.

Companies call this system variable but that refers to regulating output at the generator for ozone settings for all wash steps.

The variable ozone system is equipped to automatically adjust ozone levels within the wash wheel as opposed to filling it with a fixed amount of ozone regardless of load size or soil content which is how a charge system works. To attempt to address this, charge systems will offer pricey and unreliable ORP monitors and claim they monitor ozone levels. Some charge companies are fully aware of this and offer ORP's under different names to disguise them. ORP's are very unreliable when used in ozone laundry for many reasons including they were designed for use in water purification. Because of this, users have no idea how much ozone is in the washer or for how long. For more information on ORP meters, please refer to Fact vs Fallacy.

Disinfection:

The Aquawing ozone system is the only ozone laundry system in North America to have clinically validated data on disinfection. Some Charge (dissolved) system try to use an ORP monitor with their package and claim validation of bug kill in the laundry. This is an incorrect claim. First, ORP readings are taken from the water filling the washing machine and no positive correlation exists between ORP measurements from the fill water and bug kill in the laundry exists. This is for multiple reasons: Oxidation Reduction Potential (ORP) is not selective to ozone. Any oxidation product in the water will be measured whether it's oxygen, chlorine, chloramines, ozone or any combination of the above. The ozone unit could be turned off and you could have a 700 reading on the ORP.

There is no study proving the amount of ORP required to kill bugs in the laundry. This is a time where the Water Quality Association's handbook for purifying water is improperly referenced for bacteria kill rates in drinking water. There is no correlation. How long is the "ORP" in the washer? The ORP is never in the washing machine. How can they relay how much ozone is in the machine after 60 or 90 seconds?

Safety:

Charge systems are more likely to off-gas than the Aquawing. As mentioned above, off-gassing will occur with a charge system when the gas is taken out of solution and unmanaged. The Aquawing system will not off-gas because the AF system includes an integrated double-check system standard with every unit. This system monitors ozone at each washer and has a monitor measuring ambient levels of ozone. This ozone monitor will terminate ozone production should ambient levels approach a certain level set by OSHA.

Convenience:

Charge systems require extensive plumbing. The Aquawing system injects ozone directly into the washing machine utilizing it's patented inter-fuser and requires no plumbing whatsoever. A few challenges can present themselves when installing a charge system: Extensive plumbing requires down time. A Charge system with multiple washers has the potential of shutting down a laundry for extended periods of time. Free Trial. It is the understanding of Aquawing that no charge system manufacturer offers a free trial. Even if a trial were offered, the extensive installation process and removal process are large deterrents. The Aquawing system can be installed with no downtime in the laundry. Mixing water and electricity can cause safety concerns: we have recent documented cases of fires resulting from charge systems. The fires occurred when check valves failed and during electrical surges such as lightening. There have been no accounts of fires using the Aquawing system.

Experience:

The team at Aquawing has been working daily with ozone laundry for over 17 dedicated years. With well over a century's worth of laundry knowledge to pair with that, our team members are the foremost experts in ozone washing. Aquawing has over 3,000 machine installations making Aquawing the pinnacle of ozone laundry technology.

Validation of Savings:

Unlike other ozone laundry systems in order to back up all claims, Aquawing offers (standard and free of charge) to install 3/4" water meters to track the exact water usage of each machine (hot and cold usage). The meters are installed prior to the ozone unit in order to obtain a base line reading of current water usage. After the ozone system is installed, readings are again taken and a comparison is made with true data.

Many companies will measure savings based on the fill levels of washing machines. For instance, if a washing step in a machine is reduced from a high fill to a low fill, the difference is taken and presented as savings. This seems to make sense, but is inaccurate. There are many potential variables such as the amount and type of the linen being processed and the water level setting. As an example, a load of towels will retain much more water than a load of sheets. When not using water meters, there are too many variables to accurately track water consumption. This method allows the supplier to make all assumptions and translate all data in an estimation not actual consumption.

Please contact us with any questions you may have regarding ozone laundry.