CIP Cleaning of a Pipeline Milking System Using Electrolyzed Oxidizing Water

Abstract

Electrolyzed oxidizing (EO) water is a technology that electrolyzes a weak sodium chloridesolution into sodium and chlorine, resulting in two solutions alkaline and acid. The goal of thisresearch is to determine if EO water is an acceptable cleaning agent for pipeline milking systems.After constructing 1.5 inch-diameter pipeline milking system, the system was soiled using raw milkthat had been spiked with common raw milk microorganisms. After soiling, the system was rinsedwith warm water and then evaluated in several locations for initial counts. To evaluate the level ofsoiling, the surfaces were evaluated using an ATP bioluminescence method. The milk contactsurfaces were also swabbed for microbial analysis. The pipeline system was then washed with analkaline EO water treatment followed by an acidic EO water treatment. After treatment, theeffectiveness of the treatment was evaluated by ATP bioluminescence and microbiological analysis.First, a 10 min wash with 60C alkaline water followed by a 10 min wash with 60C acid watersuccessfully removed all detectable bacteria and ATP from the non-porous milk contact surfaces.Shorter treatment times (5 and 7.5 min) with EO water were also tested, along with a controltreatment using conventional dairy cleaning chemicals. Using ANOVA, there were no significantdifferences between the EO water treatments and the conventional treatment, however the 5-min EOwater treatment was significantly less effective than the 10-min treatment.