Let’s talk about hand-washing. We all have to wash our hands, whether it’s critical for your job or simply after going to the toilet. The problem is that the majority of people don’t do it very well. In a day-to- day sense, this is how viruses like influenza are spread so easily. In sectors such as healthcare, for example, it becomes more critical. Spread of infection is a major problem for the NHS and keeping hands clean is a major part of preventing the spread of infections.

On World Hand Hygiene Day (5 May) people and organisations around the world are working to raise awareness of the importance of hand-washing and how to do it properly.

Typically, people don’t wash their hands for long enough, nor in the right manner. Hands don’t just need to be ‘cleaned’ but also disinfected. You need wash your hands well enough to remove the visible dirt but also for long enough for any disinfectant to do its work. If hands are not washed for long, the contact time may not be enough and bacteria and viruses can remain. But let’s face it people are busy and they certainly don’t spend very long at the wash basin.

This is where Aqua21 comes in. Our point-of-use ozonation technology can give more assurance that hands are disinfected after being washed. Ozone in water is a natural and powerful disinfectant, it will kill any pathogens much faster than other disinfectants – up to 100 times faster in fact. This means that whatever time you spend washing your hands, it is time better spent with Aqua21 disinfecting water.

Ozonation is widely accepted as a safe and effective disinfectant, which leaves behind nothing other than water and oxygen. On World Hand Hygiene Day, we believe it’s important to raise awareness not just of how to wash your hands, but also innovations that can help us fight spread of infection and improve hand-cleanliness.

In developing countries where water sources are poor, people can end up washing dirty hands in dirty water. We are currently looking at trialling our point-of-use water treatment technology in maternity hospitals in an area of Kenya, to supply clean or biocidal water for their needs. This could be game-changing for poor areas of the world where water-born illnesses kill people every day.

Take a look at the website to find out more about the technology, how it works and applications for use.