Buyer’s Guide to HOCl Generators

An onsite hypochlorous acid generator turns salt, water and electricity into a hypochlorous acid solution wherever you need it. Choosing one is less about features than about fit: the right capacity for your peak demand, the right concentration range for your tasks, water and space you can actually provide, and a total cost that makes sense against what you spend today.

This guide walks through those decisions in the order an engineer or QA manager would take them. It applies to any supplier; where we mention EcoloxTech systems we give their published specifications so you can compare like with like.

Step 1: Decide whether you need a generator at all

A generator makes most sense when you use a meaningful volume of solution every day, in one or a few locations, and you are currently buying, storing and mixing chemicals to do it. It makes less sense when use is occasional or scattered.

Step 2: Size it for peak demand, not average demand

Start with a realistic inventory of every task: surfaces, floors, drains, equipment, wash water, fogging, hand-held sprayers. For each, estimate litres per use and uses per day. Then look at when that demand happens. A kitchen that uses 400 litres a day, most of it during a two-hour close-down, has a very different peak from a line that draws steadily across two shifts.

Two design choices follow:

• Generator output should comfortably cover your average hourly demand across operating hours, with margin.
• Storage covers the peaks. A holding tank lets a steady generator serve intermittent, high-draw periods; a float switch refills it automatically. See holding tanks and pumps.

If you are unsure, err towards a system that runs comfortably within its rating rather than one that has to run flat out to keep up.

Step 3: Match the concentration range to your tasks

Different tasks are usually specified at different free-chlorine levels: lower for routine surface work and anything that contacts food or skin, higher for drains, heavy soil and biofilm. Your SOP, your auditor and any applicable regulation set the target for each task. What you need from a generator is a range that covers all of them, stable output at the set point and an easy way to verify it. Pay equal attention to pH: the same ppm reading behaves very differently at pH 6 and pH 9. See how hypochlorous acid works.

Step 4: Understand the cell design

Generators fall into two broad families:

• Membrane (two-chamber) cells produce two streams: an acidic anolyte and an alkaline catholyte. The anolyte is very low pH, which can be harder on equipment and requires managing a second stream.
• Single-cell (undivided) designs produce one near-neutral to slightly acidic stream in which hypochlorous acid dominates. There is no second stream to handle.

EcoloxTech systems use a patented single-pass design producing pH 5.0–6.5. Whatever you choose, ask what the output pH is, how stable it is, and how the system controls it.

Step 5: Check feed water, salt and utilities

Cells are sensitive to what goes into them. Plan for:

• Softened water. Hardness scales electrodes and shortens their life. A sediment pre-filter protects the system; see filtration.
• Salt. Food-grade salt or a ready-to-use brine. Ask exactly what the system requires and how much it consumes.
• Power, water supply and drainage at the install location, plus wall or floor space and room for a holding tank if needed.

Step 6: Plan the installation

A commercial or industrial system is plumbing, electrical and controls, not an appliance. Confirm who installs it, what the standard installation kit includes, and what site work you must provide. For EcoloxTech systems, standard installation kits list every fitting, valve and housing (for example the E1200 kit), and brackets, pumps and float switches are available as parts.

Step 7: Build in testing and verification

You will need to show that the solution is at the right strength when it is used. Budget for test strips, test paper or a photometer and a pH check, a simple log, and outcome verification such as ATP swabbing. A supplier that cannot tell you how to verify output is a supplier to avoid.

Step 8: Compare total cost, not purchase price

The honest comparison is what you spend on sanitation chemicals over three to five years against the generator’s purchase, installation and running cost over the same period. The free sanitation audit builds exactly that model from your own invoices.

Step 9: Understand the regulatory position

In the United States, onsite generators are regulated by the EPA as pesticide devices rather than registered pesticide products. That has a practical consequence: a generator, and the solution it makes, does not carry registered disinfection claims. Where your programme, your customer or your auditor requires an EPA-registered disinfectant with label claims for specific organisms, use a registered product such as HOCl-AS200 according to its label. Be wary of any supplier that makes kill claims for a generator. Detail on the regulations page.

A worked sizing example

Consider a mid-size food plant that sanitises for two hours at the end of each of two shifts, plus steady light use during production.

Averaged across a 16-hour day, demand is under 140 L per hour, which even a small system could cover. But the plant needs about 1,000 L in each two-hour window. Two ways to meet it: a larger generator that can deliver the peak directly, or a smaller one running continuously into a holding tank that stores the peak volume. In this example, a 300 L/hr system filling a tank of around 1,000 L between windows, with a float switch, would meet demand; so would a 1,200 L/hr system with little storage. The trade-off is capital cost against space, redundancy and future growth. The numbers are illustrative only; your audit uses your real task list.

Common buying mistakes

• Sizing on the daily total and ignoring the peak. The line runs dry at the worst moment.
• Ignoring feed water. Hard water shortens electrode life and changes output. Softening and pre-filtration are part of the system, not an extra.
• Buying on ppm alone. Without pH, a ppm figure does not tell you what the solution will do.
• No verification plan. If you cannot show strength at the point of use, the programme will not survive an audit.
• Believing kill claims for equipment. Generators are devices; claims belong on registered product labels.
• Forgetting distribution. Getting solution from the generator to every station — tanks, pumps, hose reels, sprayers — is often where projects stall.

Questions to ask any supplier

1. What is the rated output in litres per hour, and at what concentration?
2. What concentration range can I set, and how stable is it?
3. What is the output pH, and how is it controlled?
4. Single cell or membrane? Is there a second stream to manage?
5. What feed water quality is required? Do I need a softener and pre-filter?
6. What salt or brine does it use, and how much per 1,000 litres?
7. What does the standard installation include, and what must I provide?
8. How do I verify output every shift?
9. What is the service interval, and which parts wear?
10. What claims do you make for the equipment, and on what regulatory basis?
11. Can you model my payback against my current chemical spend?

Buying options

The Micro and accessories can be bought directly in the shop. Commercial and industrial systems are specified and quoted per installation; ask about direct purchase, deposit terms or leasing on the quote form.

Frequently asked questions