Current case ”Deionized water for laundry?”

”Lex Järva”

The first known case of a major landlord (HSB Stockholm) scrapping SWATAB’s laundry system after tenants’ protests.

  • ”Hyresgästerna fick rätt – nu kan de tvätta som vanligt!” // Nyhetsbyrån Järva, Jan. 2020 – link
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    Nu har HSB fastigheter lyssnat på hyresgästerna, vilka också fått stöd från den lokala hyresgästföreningen. Nu ska apparaten som avjoniserar vattnet monteras bort.
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Media and press releases

Recent Reports (Q1 2020)

  • ”Tvätt med avjoniserat vatten är nu vetenskapligt testat” // Nyhetsbyrån Järva, Jan 2020 – link
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    Det sista vattnet som kommer ut borde vara ultrarent, men det var det inte. Det fanns fortfarande 16 milligram per liter av upplösta salter och mineraler i vattnet, vilket är långt över vad man kan kalla ”ultrarent”.
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  • ”SWATAB ger sin syn på testresultatet” // Nyhetsbyrån Järva, Jan 2020 – link
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    En personlig reflektion på Davids stora energi och insats i det här fallet är att jag inte förstår varför han riktar den mot DIRO-vattnet som har en mycket positiv miljöpåverkan och inte mot tvättmedel eller i synnerhet överdosering av tvättmedel som har en mycket negativ miljöpåverkan. ” // Mats Marklund, VD SWATAB
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Reports Q3/Q4 2019

  • ”Kritiserad tvättmetod testas av Varbergs Bostad” // Hallands Nyheter, Dec. 2019 – link
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    Det här blev ett naturligt val för oss. Det är ett miljöbesparande alternativ i och med att man inte använder tvättmedel och sköljmedel, så det är en led i rätt riktning ” // marknadschefen på Varbergs Bostad, Dzejna Seta
    Filtersystemet som köpts in till Håstensgatan kan kopplas till max fyra tvättmaskiner och kostnaden blev 186 000 kronor, exklusive moms.
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  • ”Tvättmaskiner utan tvättmedel testas i Tensta” // Aktuell Hållbarhet, Aug. 2019 – link
  • ”Forskare: Swatabs tvättmetod är en bluff” // Aktuell Hållbarhet, Sep. 2019 – link
  • ”LKF testar nytt tvättsystem som fått kritik” // Sydsvenskan, Aug 2019 – link
  • ”Rinkebybor tvättar kallt i ny miljötvättstuga” // MyNewsDesk HSB-Stockholm, Sep. 2019 – link
  • ”Det är uppror i tvättstugan på Rinkebysvängen” // Nyhetsbyrån Järva, Jun. 2019 – link
  • ”Tvättstugan där tvätten varken blir ren eller torr” // Nyhetsbyrån Järva, Okt. 2019 – link
  • ”Tvätt med avjoniserat vatten liknar självbedrägeri” // Nyhetsbyrån Järva, Nov. 2019 – link
  • ”Hyresgästerna organiserar sig för bättre tvättmaskiner” // Nyhetsbyrån Järva, Nov. 2019 – link
  • ”5 Entrepreneurial Success Stories from Around the World: The Laundry Man” // Reader’s Digest Canada – link

Previous Critical Reports

  • ”Kejsarens smutsiga byk” // Fri Tanke – prof. Ulf Ellervik – link
  • ”Kemikaliefri tvätt i kallvatten ifrågasätts av forskare” // BPHR, Jan. 2019 – link
  • ”Hyllad tvätteknik döms ut som bluff” // ETC, Jan 2019 – pdf
  • ”Efter granskningen: Vill ha tvätteffekten bevisad – Tvätteknik med avjoniserat vatten under omprövning” – ETC, Apr 2019 – pdf
  • ”Upp till bevis om aktivt vatten” // Rent, Apr. 2019 – link
  • ”Lundaforskare sågar AF Bostäders tvättmaskiner” // Lundagård, Mar 2019 – link

Previous Mainly Positive Reports

  • ”Sandberg Development investerar i vattenteknikbolaget SWATAB” – 2019 – link
  • ”AF Bostäder i framkant med miljövänliga tvättmaskiner” // Lundagård, Oct. 2018 – link
  • ”Hyllad ”tvättmedelsdödare” växlar upp och flyttar till Malmö” // Sydsvenskan, July 2018 – link
  • ”Scandinavian Water Technology AB, SWATAB, is a Swedish company with a focus on a sustainable society” // WIN Water – link
  • ”Tvättmaskinen gör rent utan tvättmedel eller varmvatten” // Di, Nov 2018 – link
  • ”Tvättmaskinen – utan tvättmedel eller varmvatten” // SvD, Dec 2018 – link
  • ”Tvätta utan tvättmedel” // Råd&Rön, Feb 2018 – link

Original Experimental Study Reports from SWEREA / RISE / Electrolux

  • ”Bestämning av tvätteffekt med vatten producerat av System Rodi.” // SWEREA 2013-11-20 – pdf
  • ”Stain Removal & Basic Degree of Whiteness” // SWEREA 2014-07-10 – pdf
  • ”Evaluation of one laundry prodess with respect to bacterial reduction…” // SWEREA 2014-07-15 – pdf
  • ”Washing performance test of ultra-pure water at MKB, Malmö” // ELECTROLUX 2018-02-06 – pdf
    (selected picture for visual evaluation from above report – link )
  • concatenated SWEREA 2013-11-20, SWEREA 2014-07-10 and ELECTROLUX 2018-02-06 – pdf
  • ”Measurement of washed solid strips” // RISE 2018-10-24 – pdf
  • ”Evaluation of laundering process, with water from Water System Diro, regarding bacterial reduction.” // RISE 2019-05-14 – pdf

Formal Complains and Letters Submitted to Authorities

Letter from scientists at Lund University to Energimyndigheten objecting grant to SWATAB – Nov 2018 – pdf

JO-anmälan Energimyndigheten – Feb 2019 – pdf

Formal Correspondance&Replies from Key Parties

Official reply from RISE on questions/statements (underlined) on this testreport – pdf

Full mail-correspondance and related attached documents of above – pdf

Aggravating Correspondence on prof. Ulf Ellervik’s Alleged Connection with Competing Third Parties

Leaked e-mail respons from Per Hansson at SWATAB to representative of WinWater (Maria Sätherström Lantz) on stated customer information regarding Letter from scientists to Energimyndigheten – Jan 2019 – pdf

  • attachement 1 of 4 of above e-mail (letter from scientists) – pdf
  • attachement 2 of 4 of above e-mail (detailed reply on letter from scientists) – pdf
  • attachement 3 of 4 of above e-mail (explanation of SWATAB’s tests) – pdf
  • attachement 4 of 4 of above e-mail (full testreport from SWEREA IVF 2014) – pdf

E-mail from Anders Rafstedt at SWATAB to representative of LKF (Oskar Niemi) regarding prof. Ulf Ellervik – Feb 2019 – pdf

Awards from various organisations to SWATAB (with selected citations from e.g. the respective jury)

  • Malmö Cleantech City Award – 2016 – link pdf (”SWATAB has a truly unique solution and it is the choice of the Malmö Cleantech City Award jury because this is something they would like to see installed in their laundry rooms.” )
  • WWF Climate Solver – 2017 – link pdf ( “To wash without detergents, at lower temperatures, with shorter drying times through their revolutionary product DIRO-TM21, named for the process involved, “De-Ionized Reverse Osmosis.”” )
  • WIN Water Award – 2018 – pdf ( “For showing the disruptive potential of clean water for business and the environment” )
  • Rapidus ”Friskt Vågat” – 2019 – link jpg (“Paret började utveckla tekniken i sin målerifirma i Everöd. I dag har Swatab kontor i Malmö, Sandberg Development som delägare och kunder som MKB och Grand Hotel i Lund.”)

Scientific Papers and Reports

Freeze/Thaw-Induced Carbon Dioxide Trapping Promotes Emulsification of Oil in Water” // Ganachaud et al 2018
**** selected citation from above paper ***********
In this Viewpoint, we present complementary experimental evidence of how bicarbonate adsorption allows surfactant-free oil in water emulsions to form.
******** end citation *********

”De-gassed water and surfactant-free emulsions: History, controversy, and possible applications” // Eastoe et al 2007
**** selected citation from above paper ***********
This review has covered the emerging field of surfactant free emulsions (SFEM’s), generated by special treatments of water, such as Freeze-Pump-Thaw (F-P-T).Without a shadow of doubt, SFEM’s can be readily formed with common components, as long as the systems are subjected to large thermal shocks giving rise to rapid freeze-thaw events.
******** end citation *********

”The dispersion of natural oils in de-gassed water” // Francis et al 2006

”The effect of de-gassing on the dispersion of fine oil droplets in water” // Francis et al 2006

”Industrial Cleaning with ultra-clean water according to the Qlean-method – a case study of printed circuit boards” // Svensson et al
**** selected citation from above paper ***********
”The function of ultra-clean water has not been studied within the SOFIQ project. However, a literature study has been conducted by Professor Bo Svensson from the Department of Water and Environmental Studies at Linköping University. He found that the reason that dirt and grease do not dissolve in ordinary water is due to the gases found in ordinary water, which prevent the water molecules from binding with the hydrocarbons in the dirt. The process of creating ultra-clean water primarily entails the removal of gases, resulting in a capacity for the ultra-clean water to loosen dirt and grease. These conclusions are based on the research results from a research group in Canberra, Australia who have studied this phenomenon since the beginning of this century. The chemical explanations to why the ultra-clean water dissolves dirt and oil can be found in the research from this group in Francis & Pashely [5] and Francis et al [6].”
******** end citation *********

”The infection risks associated with clothing and household linens in home and everyday life settings, and the role of laundry” // Apr. 2011: A review prepared by the International Scientific Forum on Home Hygiene (IFH), Bloomfield et al
**** selected citation from above paper ***********
” From the data presented in this report, it is concluded that, although laundry processes should be able to deliver clean fabrics with minimum, use of water, power and chemicals, it is equally important to ensure that laundered clothing does not represent an infection risk.

It is also important for regulatory authorities to recognise that the hygienic cleaning (i.e. biocidal/germ removal action) of laundering is achieved by a combination of heat, rinsing, detergent and chemical oxidative action.

******** end citation *********

Public records

All documents on SWATAB from Energimyndigheten – Jan 2019 – pdf

All documents on SWATAB from LKF – Oct 2019 – pdf
(selected therefrom: SWATAB’s, via Anders Rafstedt, statement regarding prof. Ulf Ellervik – pdf)

All documents on SWATAB/laundry without detergents from MKB – Oct 2019 – pdf
(selected therefrom: Advokatbyrån Gulliksson:s presentation/evaluation – pdf)

All documents on grant from VINNOVA to SWATAB – Nov 2019 – pdf

Unwashed Satire

A ”business opportunity” based on ultrapure water can be found here.