“‘This will completely revolutionise the need for strong and harsh cleaning agents while ensuring we have a good balance of cleanliness in the centre’. ”
At a glance
Client:
YMCA Victoria
Location:
15 Childcare Centres across Victoria
Industry:
Early Learning
System:
eWS ROX10 Standalone Systems
Application:
Food Safety & Kitchens
Environmental/Facilities Hygiene
The YMCA Victoria empowers children to reach their full potential through discovery and adventure across 70 sites and operates a dedicated Early Learning Program via purpose-designed Early Learning Centres across the state of Victoria, Australia.
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Protecting our young people and the environment
Sustainability and environmental education is a central issue for the YMCA and led the team at the Children’s Programs to seek an environmentally friendly and financially viable solution to replace their cleaning and disinfectant/sanitising chemicals within their Early Learning Centres.
Given the highly regulated nature of Early Learning, the Children’s Program needed to be absolutely confident that any alternative to their current cleaning and disinfectant/sanitising methodology would stand up to scrutiny and meet the same standards.
A chance encounter between senior leaders at the YMCA and eWater, created an opportunity to explore the value eWater might be able to provide within their child care network of services.
Before eWater
Prior to using eWater, the YMCA Early Learning Centres used conventional chemical-based disinfectants, sanitisers and cleaning agents. From an environmental standpoint these products came in many forms of single use plastic packaging, were produced with synthetic chemicals and not being biodegradable, left a chemical residue behind.
In addition, the centres had no means of sanitising fresh produce outside of regular tap water which doesn’t remove chemical residue or wax’s used to give products artificial shine.
Trialling eWater
In January 2018, the YMCA opened a new purpose-built Early Learning Centre in Torquay North. This new site, under construction at the time, became the first trial site for an eWater System. Built into the site during construction, the Centre proudly promoted their chemical free environment to the local community.
The benefits of eWater far exceeded the expectations of the Children’s Programs team during the trial. The trial demonstrated -
eWater maintained an impeccable standard of hygiene.
Generated cost savings of approximately 20% compared to conventional products.
Reduced single use plastics
Removed chemical residue across the centre
As an added benefit, because of its natural, non-toxic ingredients, the Centre was also able to involve children in cleaning activities, confident in the fact that the products they’re using are completely safe.
These outcomes lead to the decision to make eWater a non-negotiable product decision.
eWater Rollout
After the successful trial at Torquay North, the YMCA decided to rollout eWater across all of their Early Learning Centres.
To date, the eWater System has been installed at 13 existing YMCA Early Learning Centres, and two new sites at Tarneit and Wyndham Vale that opened in 2020.
All YMCA Early Learning Centres will have eWater installed by the end of 2021.
“‘It cleans surfaces, washes food and keeps toys clean, all without any harmful chemicals’.”
Staff Engagement
On-site staff are really pleased with the quality and effectiveness of eWater. eWater is available to all staff to use at home via their own refillable containers, which has not only extended the positive impact we have on the environment but is a great employee benefit and cost-saving initiative only offered by YMCA Children’s Programs.
eWater & COVID-19
In addition to the 15 YMCA Early Learning Centres that have eWater installed, three head office spaces also have it available on-site for office cleaning and staff have access to refill for at-home use.
The YMCA are extremely passionate about reducing their carbon footprint. So much so, Carolyn Morris, CEO YMCA Victoria and Kingswim, has even had a system installed at her home once she realised how effective it was.
With eWater having a TGA listing* as a proven disinfectant to kill COVID-19, the YMCA had confidence that their early learning centres always had a secure and ready-to-use disinfectant available to their team.
Future Plans
The YMCA plans to roll out eWater to their remaining Early Learning Centres, all future ELC builds and their 7 campsites located across Victoria. The organisation also plans to install eWater at recreation sites in consultation with local councils who manage the facilities.
“‘I love the fact that the system is environmentally friendly. We’re not putting harsh chemicals back into the environment and we have reduced the number of plastic containers going to landfill.’ ”
Why eWater?
eWater is a safe and effective disinfectant, sanitiser and cleaning solution that is produced by an onsite generator using only salt, water and electricity. Utilising world-leading electrolysis technology, eWater provides organisations of all types with a secure, sustainable, low cost and unlimited supply of hygiene solution that doesn’t cost the Earth.