Water conservation in clothes laundry

Background & introduction

Washing of clothes and textile accessories can take up significant amounts of water. For instance, a front load washing machine consumes an average of 60 litres per wash cycle. 

Various technologies are explored to minimize water consumption, such as use of ultrasonic technology and polymer beads for washing, while at the same time, providing effective cleaning.

What are the key sustainability benefits?

Use of alternative technologies help reduce over 90% of water consumption, less energy, less effluent, while also saving time for the users. 

How does this work?

Two technologies are currently being explored as alternative methods for water washing in laundry - ultrasonic cleaning and cleaning with polymer beads.

Ultrasonic cleaning uses high intensity sound waves in a fluid medium to create mechanical forces that dissolve and displace contaminants on clothing.

In the case of polymer beads cleaning, beads are tumbled with a laundry load using a little water and detergent in a perforated drum. During the wash cycle, the beads are constantly recirculated, escaping through the holes in the drum and returning to the drum by way of a bead pump. During the rinse cycle, the beads that escape through the holes are collected to be reused in the next load. The beads can be used for 100 washes and then recycled.