August 1, 2003 - The Hilton Waikoloa Village

O3 and your laundry.

You know about ozone (O3)-The atmospheric layer that filters the sun's ultravoiolet rays. Lately, though, it's being used for down-to-earth purposes: Killing microbes during food processing, cleaning fish ponds, purifying drinking water, disinfecting market stalls.

Some hotels and laundry facilities in Hawaii are injecting ozone into water for washing linens and towels; our Energy Industries / HELCO team wants to expand that number. Ozone terminates bacteria 3,000 times faster than bleach (plus viruses chlorine can't eliminate) and leaves no residue. It works in cold water, so it's ideal for laundries that want to save on energy needed to heat water.

Ozone systems are a proven, advanced electric technology and can pay for themselves with energy, water, and chemical savings within two to three years. To introduce more customers to the benefits of ozone, Darren Kimura and HELCO representative David Cattle convinced the Hapuna Beach Prince Hotel Laundry to install a pilot system on a 135-pound unit called "Washer 3."

Performance was logged over a three-month period. The results? "The linens were brighter, fluffier, and the stains that were coming out during the process with a minimum of chemicals, or not at all, were unbelievable. We shortened the wash cycles, eliminated rinse cycles, used less chemicals and no hot water, which makes the linen last longer," says Pat Gable, the Hapuna laundry manager. "We were able to increase production and reduce our utility cost. Heavily soiled items, however, were still better off with traditional washing."

While the ozone pilot project study was underway at Hapuna, Kimura and Cattle reviewed ozone laundry technology with the Hilton Waikoloa Village. The resort immediately proceeded with a full-scale installation of ozone for their whole laundry with installation and construction management by Energy Industries. "Aside from the numerous operational benefits of the system, the (ten to 15 degrees) reduction in temperature makes the workplace a much more pleasant environment for our laundry team members," reports Kevin Toltzmann, the Hilton Waikoloa's manager of Property Operations. Hapuna shared its pilot system results at a HELCO-organized tour for engineers and facilities managers, some of whom came from other islands. HELCO is currently working on full-scale ozone feasibility studies for the Hapuna and the North Hawaii Community Hospital. -Pepi Nieva

For more information on this project please contact Sales Representative Darren Kimura at darren.kimura@energy-industries.com