Hypochlorous acid (HOCL) solution, or Electrolyzed Oxidizing Water (EOW) – as it is also known as – is a powerful disinfectant for residential, commercial, and industrial use. From wood and steel, to concrete and glass, EOW is widely used in the livestock industry. If you are wondering how to disinfect wood panels in your cattle, poultry, or hog farming operation, then there’s a simple answer. For businesses operating in the livestock industry, it’s worth noting that HOCL is an ideal solution for controlling colony counts of microbial pathogens[i], and is not harmful for animals. Therefore, it can safely be applied broadly to all livestock living environments.
The Threat Within
Often, threats to livestock reside within the confines of the operation. Non-industry visitors, touring a livestock operation, might be impressed by the miles and miles of concrete, steel, and aluminum they see. Cattle farmers, for instance, use grids, gates, and steel fences to control the movement of cows and sheep across large segments of the property. These materials can be used to also restrict movements within yards and paddocks, and to maintain a safe perimeter within a hog farming operation.
While poultry farmers use other materials too, there’s a lot of steel and aluminum used in feed delivery systems, and in high ammonia containing sections of the farm. And where wood can’t be used, in places like drinking systems and spraying and disinfection lines, poultry farms often use galvanized metal.
However, wooden structures are still prevalent, including fencing, gates, barn doors and cattle pens. Poultry farmers use wood for chicken coops and runs. Wooden furniture is also prevalent in offices and administrative buildings. Wood, by nature, absorbs moisture more readily than steel and metal, leaving it more susceptible to fungi and mold. And wood shaving-based bedding and flooring inside sheds and coops, also poses a huge threat to the business.
So, how to disinfect wooden furniture and other wooden structures, components, and wood-based elements within the livestock industry? The answer lies in the use of HOCL!
The Risk of Chemical Treatments
In days gone by, livestock industry operators relied on heavily-chlorinated water to disinfect various components of the farm. Other farmers used Sodium hypochlorite (NaClO) – liquid bleach – as their disinfectant of choice. However, these solutions contained harsh chemicals, which often proved detrimental to the health of animals.
But there’s more downside to the use of bleach – especially when it comes to metallic objects and structures. The corrosive properties of NaClO meant that livestock operators, who applied bleach and chlorine to their properties, spent a lot of time, energy, and budget on corrosion-resistant maintenance. Additionally, the harmful chemicals in bleach, when inadvertently mingled in livestock food supplies, might be ingested by the animals.
Within a livestock operation, that uses wood, steel, aluminum, and other metals, in buildings and structures, the challenges often are:
- How to disinfect wooden furniture, cabinets, pens, gates, and doors?
- Doing it while also being able to protect, disinfect and sanitize non-wooden elements on the property
- Carrying out the sanitization protocols so the health and wellbeing of the animals, staff, and visitors isn’t compromised
For cattle breeders, hog producers, and poultry farmers, the answer lies in equipping themselves with cost-effective, in-house capabilities to produce unlimited quantities of Hypochlorous acid solution.
One Solution Fits All
The advantage of owning and installing a HOCL-making machine is that you’ll always have a one-size-fits all disinfectant in-house. You’ll never have to worry about running low on your supply; and you’ll never need to “skimp” or skip on your sanitization protocols. All equipment, components, containers, and structures on the premises can be treated with the same disinfectant, making sanitization that much simpler.
What’s more, HOCL is:
- 100 times more biocidal than chlorine bleach
- Highly effective against G+ and G- bacteria, E. coli O157:H7, Salmonella, and Listeria
- Poses no risk for skin irritation, and is safe on the eyes and non-toxic is (inadvertently) inhaled – by animals and humans
- A treatment that may be applied without the use of protective gear
- Very effective against spore-forming bacteria
- Can widely be dispersed via low-cost, easy to operate steaming and fogging equipment
- Good to protect and maintain sanitation of shell eggs at poultry farms
- A powerful ally against Cryptosporidium and Giardia that contaminate water
And because hypochlorous acid is produced using safe materials, i.e., table salt, water, and electricity, it can safely be used on USDA organic products. The challenge of how to disinfect wooden furniture, gates, barn doors, cabinets, chairs, as well as other wooden and non-wood structures can be solved with a single disinfectant – HOCL! You’ll never need to subject your wooden furniture or highly corrosive metallic equipment and structures to high temperatures either. Use your HOCL disinfectant in temperatures between 50-86 ºF (10-30 ºC) – and you’ll protect the investment in your livestock operation.
