Automated disinfection system gives businesses a break from cleaning

Fog-Ez's automated disinfection system allows users to pre-program treatments around their schedule, providing both business and the public with greater peace of mind

Spotted: COVID-19 has made many people anxious about doing things they previously took for granted. From visiting a restaurant to exercising at the gym, we are all more aware of hygiene in public spaces. In response, businesses are considering how they can reassure customers so that they return. There has been a big push to clean surfaces, yet wiping them down by hand is a costly and onerous task. It is only natural that staff disinfecting areas manually will miss some surfaces.

This problem inspired Florida-based Fog-Ez to develop a fully-automated system that enables businesses to disinfect surfaces on a pre-set schedule. This system uses a dry fog of chemicals – approved by the US Environmental Protection Agency – to inactivate pathogens.  

Permanently installed within a space or facility, the system emits the dry fog through sprinkler nozzles. Users can then pre-program treatments to take place at convenient times. Fog-Ez told Springwise that the duration of treatment ensures full coverage, and allows sufficient contact time for pathogen inactivation. They claim that people can validate the treatment with test kits and analysers, proving efficacy and reduction in viral threat.

The idea for the system came about at the start of the coronavirus pandemic. Fog-Ez co-founder, Devin Burnup, told Springwise, “We were all employed in some aspect of the cruise line industry and watched it collapse around us. Thousands of people [became] jobless, myself included… We decided to take action, to develop an automated system that would deliver disinfectant with little effort from the end user.”   

We have spotted a number of innovations that aim to reduce transmission of COVID-19. But as coronavirus research has developed, our understanding of the virus has changed.

When a laboratory study showed that COVID-19 could persist on plastic and stainless steel for days, headlines were triggered. This led to a push to decontaminate everything – from doorknobs to groceries. But more recent research has found that surfaces present relatively little risk of transmitting the virus. Last May, the US Centers for Diesel Control and Prevention updated its guidance, emphasising that “the main mode by which people are infected with SARS-CoV-2 [COVID-19] is through exposure to respiratory droplets carrying infectious virus.”