It is surprising to learn that a dairy farm requires a sizable laundry for its operation. It turns out that the udders on every cow need cleaning three times a day during milking and the Statz Brothers farm cleans each cow’s udder, 2,600 cows in all, with a fresh towel.
To clean all of those towels they employ an ozone wash system, the ozone molecule to disinfect and remove stains. It doesn’t require hot water, so there’s less natural gas needed to heat the water.
Ozone is gaining traction as a disinfectant in a variety of applications. It has been used as a disinfectant in Europe since the 1800s, but the industry is building more slowly in the United States. The technology doesn’t make sense for light washing loads or home washing. But businesses can see a payback of less than a year on their investment. It’s best suited for places that go through a lot of laundry, such as 150-room hotels, 100-bed nursing homes or buildings that have at least 1,000 pounds of laundry to wash every day.
Worldwide, the market for ozone disinfection technology is projected to increase to $444 million in 2012 from $322 million in 2007, according to a report last year by the Massachusetts market research firm BCC Research. Markets include swimming pool and spa water disinfection, agriculture, groundwater remediation, odor control and wastewater treatment plants.