It is the cleaning of the water contact surfaces of the cooler followed by disinfection.
Cleaning may involve detergents and/or de-scaling liquids, and will almost certainly involve physical effort. Indeed, rubbing, scraping, brushing and rinsing are important elements in removing soiling. Cleaning may be manual or use a machine such as a steamer or dishwasher. The methods used will be dictated to some extend by the cooler type used.
Disinfection is the reducing of the microorganisms remaining after cleaning to a safe level. This will enable that cooler to last untill the next sanitisation is due. Suitable disinfectants include chlorine based compounds , peroxide, peroxyacetic acid and ozone. Unsuitable ones include quaternary ammonium compounds (QACs - problematical in water) and phenols (highly unpleasant and toxic). Steaming and the hot cycle of a dishwasher are also effective disinfectants. Disinfection alone is not sufficient.
Given the close interest being shown by some governments on the quality of water dispensed by coolers, it is vital that we retain the concept that the industry's product is a form of bottled water and should be judged at bottling, not when it issues from the cooler. To that end it is important the the water that comes out of the cooler tap should be of the same hygienic quality as that in the bottle when it was loaded onto the cooler - ie a cooler should not add to the bacterial content of the water. We therefore sanitise for the following reasons:
- Keep the biofilm in the cooler under control and prevent it from adding to the cooler water bacterial content
- Eliminate any contaminating organisms that may enter the cooler through customer misuse
- Maintain product reputation. Some companies spend alot of money on building brand reputation yet spoil it by allowing their bottles to sit on dirty coolers
- Prevent the chances of damaging taste issues occurring
- Keep scaling under control
- Limit the occurrence of green bottles
Biofilm builds up in the taps and cooler waterways. Test have shown that after three months this begins to affect water quality. A cooler after four months may be adding another 25% to the TVC (bacterial content) of the water compared to the bottle.
The chances of there being unacceptable types of bacteria in the cooler are greatly increased. They will be living protected in the biofilm. Such organisms include non faecal coliforms and Pseudomonas aeruginosa
Your chances of having a water sample taken from the cooler being judged as unacceptable are greatly increased. As awareness and use of coolers grows, the likelihood of water samples being drawn from coolers increases.
If a bottle has turned green on a cooler then the next bottle will turn green if the cooler has not been sanitised.
