# Electrolyzed Disinfectant? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 11, 2016, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electrolyzed-disinfectant/765714 "2016-09-11T21:34:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2016, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electrolyzed-disinfectant/765714/1 "2016-09-11T21:34:37Z")
Wondering about this Grommet product: [https://www.thegrommet.com/force-of-nature](https://www.thegrommet.com/force-of-nature) I seem to recall a product like this making the rounds in the early 90’s. That one claimed to run electricity through tap water, turning it into hydrogen peroxide. This then was supposedly the ultimate cheap and effective cleaning solution for various housekeeping chores. The Grommet version adds vinegar and salt to the zapped formula, resulting in a solution it claims is 8x better at killing germs than bleach. Wikipedia says that vinegar and salt have nothing whatever to do with the electrolyzed water becomes an effective disinfectant, it’s the sodium chloride in municipal water that does the trick. But what about those of us with chloramines? > **[Electrolysed water](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrolysed_water)** > > Electrolysed water (electrolyzed water, EOW, ECA, electrolyzed oxidizing water, electro-activated water or electro-chemically activated water solution) is produced by the electrolysis of ordinary tap water containing dissolved sodium chloride. The electrolysis of such salt solutions produces a solution of hypochlorous acid and sodium hydroxide. The resulting water can be used as a disinfectant. > The electrolysis occurs in a specially designed reactor which allows the separation of the cathodic an... Does anybody know about this or similar products? Will this work reliably? ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2016, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electrolyzed-disinfectant/765714/2 "2016-09-11T21:53:42Z")
Well, it might work if they reversed the polarity of the Phosphorus atoms. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2016, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electrolyzed-disinfectant/765714/3 "2016-09-12T02:02:48Z")
?? What is your quesiton about chloroamines ?? Presumably the vinegar (acetic acid) is included to get the ph balance right for efficient production. If the production is very efficient, you won’t get other items produced, and the level of chloroamines will be low. But, are you looking for a solution that _kills bacteria_, but doesn’t _damage cells_? Because that is going to be a hard search. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2016, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electrolyzed-disinfectant/765714/4 "2016-09-12T02:43:18Z")
If it’s the sodium chloride that’s necessary for the process, my question is, what will the result be if I’m electrolysing water and chloramine instead? Will the bond break? ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2016, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electrolyzed-disinfectant/765714/5 "2016-09-20T05:40:12Z")
You don’t have to have salt in your tap water – the product sells with salt you can add. The chloroamine used in tap water in some places is fairly stable. In an acid solution like this, I think it is very stable (?? outside my area of skill). Since this process creates hypochlorous acid, the chloroamine is unlikely to break down in tho hypochlorous acid and (whatever). I think the problem is sometimes the other way – the electrolysys process can create unwanted chloroamines if the reaction conditions aren’t right. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2016, 11:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electrolyzed-disinfectant/765714/6 "2016-09-20T11:11:53Z")
Thanks. So wouldn’t that mean if your municipality uses chloramine instead of straight chlorine, then elevtrolyzing the water would NOT produce a disinfectant? ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2016, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electrolyzed-disinfectant/765714/7 "2016-09-20T11:27:20Z")
Hypochlorous acid solutions are known as “bleach”; it’s a “make your own bleach” machine. You may want to take that into consideration. I’m not even getting into whether I’d expect it to work or how well. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2016, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electrolyzed-disinfectant/765714/8 "2016-09-21T00:55:24Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > Thanks. So wouldn’t that mean if your municipality uses chloramine instead of straight chlorine, then elevtrolyzing the water would NOT produce a disinfectant? This product electrolyzes water+salt+acid. You add the salt+acid tablet to the water, then turn on the power. It doesn’t depend on chlorine or chloramine or anything pre-existing in the water. It (probalby) won’t have any effect on existing disinfectants in your water, but it (probably) is intended to generate higher disinfectant concentrations than what you have in your tap water, which will (probably) make your disinfected water more reactive in some way. ---
**Author:** ![boffking](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/858c86/32.png) [@boffking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boffking)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2016, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electrolyzed-disinfectant/765714/9 "2016-09-21T18:13:51Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > Hypochlorous acid solutions are known as “bleach”; it’s a “make your own bleach” machine. You may want to take that into consideration. I’m not even getting into whether I’d expect it to work or how well. Bleach is a base, not an acid. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2016, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electrolyzed-disinfectant/765714/10 "2016-09-21T20:01:41Z")
Sodium hypochlorite, normally. But the part that’s active is the hypochlorite anion, which is the same in the acid and in its salts.