More development on my favorite invention from the past decade at least: Water that has had electricity passed through it to become an all natural, drinkable disinfectant that is more effective than bleach.
The only downsides are that Electrolyzed water works best on smooth surfaces and slightly less well on others and the fact that it’s still way too expensive:
Researchers note that EO water performs best on smooth surfaces. Bassam Annous, a research microbiologist for the federal Agricultural Research Service, has found it does not work well ridding lettuce and apples of E. coli because the water-based solution cannot penetrate the minute crevices where the bacteria can lurk.
“This is not a silver bullet,” Hung said. “EO water is not perfect.”
Then there’s the price issue.Viking Pure systems run from $12,000 to $15,000 for larger-scale units and $3,500 for its “mini” units. Though the cleaners cost little to produce, the upfront investment means it makes less sense for a household that goes through a bottle of bleach a year.
Also, it’s hard to get people to accept that it works since they’re used to chemical cleaners:
Deborah Stone, housekeeping manager for Carolina Designs rental agency at North Carolina’s Outer Banks, swears by it and said some of the biggest problems are convincing workers they can clean without suds.
“It’s very difficult for the cleaners to comprehend that because there is no smell and because there are no bubbles, they don’t get the sense that they’re actually cleaning,” Stone said. “You still have those die-hard people that want the suds and the pretty smell.”