For years, sanitation crews have been manually cleaning floor drains in food manufacturing facilities. What if we said there is a way to better protect your product from contamination, while saving time and labor? Here are three common mistakes in floor drain cleaning:
- Manual Scrubbing
Drains create the ideal environment for biofilm to grow and thrive. Biofilms provide a protective home that helps pathogens resist disinfection. Historically, floor drain cleaning procedures included manually scrubbing drains to break up biofilms. However, manual scrubbing can aerosolize bacteria and cause it to spread to food contact surfaces and even travel throughout the facility via the HVAC system. - High Pressure Rinses
Similarly to manually scrubbing drains, rinsing with a high pressure water source can aerosolize bacteria, causing cross contamination concerns. - Not Cleaning Your Floor and Drain Tools
Cleaning and sanitation tools are often overlooked or not prioritized in SSOPs. It is imperative to utilize clean equipment for cleaning and sanitation procedures. Even equipment that is dedicated to specific tasks must be sanitized between uses to prevent cross contamination.
Save Time and Labor with Sterilex
Powered by PerQuat® technology, Sterilex Ultra Disinfectant Cleaner Solution 1 combined with Sterilex Ultra Activator Solution creates a thick foam that clings to drains. The PerQuat technology’s chemistry penetrates biofilm to kill pathogens protected within biofilm – such as Listeria – and removes biofilm. Simply fill the drain with Sterilex and walk away – there is no need to manually scrub or rinse. One customer was able to reduce their drain cleaning time from 15 minutes a drain to 5-7 minutes per drain.
Additionally, the mixed solution of Sterilex Ultra Disinfectant Cleaner Solution 1 + Sterilex Ultra Activator can be used in buckets to clean and disinfect equipment.
Challenge
Have you evaluated your drain cleaning procedures lately? Do you manually scrub, use high pressure water or overlook disinfecting your cleaning tools? We challenge you to rethink how to clean your floor drains and modify your drain Sanitation Standard Operating Procedure (SSOP) to include PerQuat foaming chemistry.
Download our Drain SSOP to see just how easy it can be to include Sterilex in your protocols.
