Chlorinated Irrigation for Cleaning Crops from Microbes

Cleaning vegetables while they are still growing in the field may sound like an odd idea, but the researchers from University of South Australia are verifying its value.

The University of SA team is using the same technology used in saltwater swimming pools to create chlorinated irrigation water that can be sprayed onto crops to kill off unwanted microbes.

“One of the biggest flower importers into Australia is using this technique, spraying his flowers to extend their shelf life,” university environmental science and engineering professor Enzo Lombi said.

“It (the treated water) has even been used to extend the shelf life of fish by one or two days.”

The technology involves using the naturally occurring low levels of chloride salts in water, or adding more if needed in the form of potassium chloride, to kill off bacteria on vegetables.

The water is pumped between large planar (large surface area) electrodes, which converts the chloride salts into chlorine.

“Chlorine is a strong oxidiser to which there is no microbial resistance,” Prof Lombi said.

“If you use water that is a little saline, you don’t need to add anything to it. In agriculture we can also use potassium chloride, because sodium can create problems.”

Professor Lombi said that while the simple technique was being used for post-harvest treatment of foods, Hort Innovation Australia was funding his team to see if they could cut the microbial load on standing crops before harvest.

He has already recruited two vegetable growers from SA and NSW to run trials on their farms and may expand his work on electrolysed oxidising water to Victoria, depending on results.

He said the three-year project would examine the value of EO Water as a tool that:

• ALLOWS vegetable growers to regularly spray irrigate leafy green crops, such as lettuce, to wash parts of the plant that may be inaccessible once it matures.
• CLEAN out biofilms, containing bacteria, from irrigation pipes and lines
• GIVES irrigators the ability to use poorer quality water, given they can sanitise it using the EO technique.

Source: The Weekly Times

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