When an OTEK system is commissioned Bacteria testing is done to clarify process and site regulatory compliance.

MICROBIOLOGICAL TEST RESULTS

We have had our ozone laundry system tested by Silliker Microtech® under the most rigorous conditions possible i.e. test garments were inoculated with pre-determined amounts of bacteria, processed and then residual bacteria colonies were extracted and counted.

The measured reduction in CFUs meets AS4146-2000 laundry standard according to Australia ’s leading micro laboratory. The test used by other companies is to plate the linen with Rodac™ plates after processing and then incubate the plates looking for residual micro-organisms.

This process can appear to give a complete reduction in bacteria. However this is unreliable as firstly you do not know what quantity of microbes were there first, (i.e. a final bacteria count of 10 on linen that originally had a bacteria count of 10 means the laundry disinfection failed,) and secondly the plating of linen surfaces does not identify the large amounts of bacteria potentially hidden in the fibre out of reach of the Rodac™ plate.

Plate testing only gives an indication that there is not heavy contamination of the linen after processing. The only process that provides complete elimination of microbes is sterilisation, and obviously the laundry process is a disinfection process not a sterilisation process.