Geosyntec has partnered with Ground Effects Environmental Services Inc. (Ground Effects) to develop decontamination equipment to safely and reliably raise building atmosphere ozone concentrations to a precise target virus-treatment concentration.

SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, does not survive elevated ozone concentrations. After the ozone concentration is maintained, the levels are quickly reduced to non-detect. There are clear advantages to this method: it is more comprehensive than wiping, spraying, or fogging; this method does not leave a dangerous chemical residue like alternative disinfection methods; and this method does not require handing of regulated and often hazardous consumables.

Geosyntec’s partner, Ground Effects will deploy this technology in service to clients under the name Sanozone™. Sanozone is led by Sean Frisky, who has collaborated with Trevor Carlson from Geosyntec on environmental and research projects for more than 20 years. Sean leads a team in developing ozone-generating equipment for water treatment and environmental applications. The Geosyntec team includes Kirk Craig (Arizona), Duane Graves (Tennessee), Phil Dennis (Ontario), Trevor Carlson (Saskatchewan), Bruce Marvin (California), Kelsey Leik (Saskatchewan), Savannah Volkoff (North Carolina), Jennifer Wilkinson (Ontario), Ximena Druar (Ontario), Taylor Aris (Ontario), and Jacques Smith (Tennessee).

“Geosyntec and Sanozone are using their specialized equipment to test the efficacy of room-scale ozone disinfection using noninfectious, non-pathogenic surrogate SARS-CoV-2 virus materials and the non-infectious, non-pathogenic viral bacteriophage MS2,” said Duane Graves. “Preliminary results from testing are confirming our expectations with respect to our specialized method.”

The partnership developed a low concentration liquid-phase ozone spray technique for focused direct applications for aggressive disinfection of high contact areas. Locations such as subway landings, outdoor dining and common areas, benches, handrails, floors, streets and various other surfaces are flash-decontaminated by a method similar to power washing jetting a fluid stream containing liquid-phase ozone. Liquid-phase ozone is currently in use for virus disinfection in a number of industries and, with modest precautionary measures can be safely applied in occupied spaces or with temporary access controls.

More Information

Kirk Craig https://www.geosyntec.com/people/kirk-craig
Bruce Marvin https://www.geosyntec.com/people/bruce-marvin
Trevor Carlson https://www.geosyntec.com/people/trevor-carlson
Duane Graves https://www.geosyntec.com/people/duane-graves
Ground Effects Environmental Services Inc. https://groundeffects.org