Cleaning Dirty Laundry? Who Needs Water!
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Have you heard? In the future you may be able to launder with a virtually waterless washing machine. For quite some time we’ve been buying Energy Star Appliances for laundering. We’ve also been reducing the temperatures we use and tailoring our water usage to the number of articles washed. These things help, but imagine being able to dramatically reduce energy and water usage.
This can happen with the new virtually waterless washing machine invented by the University of Leeds. Their new method promises to drastically reduce the amount of water and energy for laundering to less than 2% of the current usage. In fact, this washing machine uses only one cup of water for a full wash. The load is left almost dry, which in turn saves on the energy used to finish drying that load. If commercialized, researchers say this invention could save millions if not billions of gallons of water each year. That doesn’t even cover the electricity savings.
I’ll bet your wondering how this works. The new washing process uses about 44 lbs of plastic chips around a half-centimeter in size to absorb and remove dirt. These chips are mixed with a cup of water and a pinch of detergent in the washer. During the washing cycle, the water is heated to help dissolve the dirt. The plastic chips absorb the dirt and your laundry comes out fresh and clean. The plastic chips can be reused up to 100 times, which the inventors estimate will wash around 6 months of laundry. They claim this process can effectively remove all sorts of everyday stains including coffee and lipstick. A great graphic of the process along with more details can be found on dailymail.co.uk.
My main concern is how the plastic chips are dealt with when they wear out. I hope there will be an environmentally friendly way to handle them. As they refine this invention and figure out how to commercialize it, I’m sure these details will be revealed.
The new washing machine may reach a commercial market as soon as 2009. It is unclear which market they will target first. It will be interesting to keep an eye on this. It sounds like it could revolutionize the industry. When you think about it, it is amazing how little many appliances have changed over time. Maybe the washing machine will soon have its day.
It was quite exciting to read your article on Cleaning Dirty Laundry? Who Needs Water! My company currently operates two commercial laundry and dry clean centers in The Gambia & Senegal.
Our energy and water usage is high, we are always keen to learn, improve and reduce our environmental impact that our laundries have.
As we are based in developing countries it is very difficult to have access to such technology, we hope that Xeros does actually achieve there 2009 delivery target date, and hope locations such as ours can be used as a pilot scheme to better help improve environmental impacts in the region, as water is seen a necessity in this part of the world.
I too have concerns about what happens to the chips when they are “expired”. Also, how much water is used/how much pollution is committed in production of these chips?
Wow, I’m impressed and also curious about the plastic chips and how they might also be eco-friendly. However, there is a growing water shortage in the world and the thought of saving millions upon millions of gallons of water is enough to convince me to purchase one when available. That sounds like it could be a significant contribution to solutions. –Cheryl Janis, writer of lifestyle and eco-blog Planet Pink n’ Green - http://www.planetpinkngreen.com