Starting in January 2016, we published a series of six articles on the Arpal Group blog covering the hot and sometimes controversial topic of chemicals and dosing. The six-part weekly series discussed the key issues surrounding the chemical dosing landscape. All six articles are reproduced here in a free to download e-book.

1. 1
Chemicals &
Dosing
Reprint of our 6 part series from the
Arpal Group Blog. All comments and
feedback welcome.
Contact Us
www.thearpalgroupblog.com

2. 2
INTRODUCTION
Starting in January 2016, we published a series of six articles on the Arpal Group blog covering
the hot and sometimes controversial topic of chemicals and dosing. The six-part weekly series
discussed the key issues surrounding the chemical dosing landscape. All six articles are
reproduced here in a free to download e-book.
Key topics covered include:
 Chemicals and dosing, an overview.
 The types of cleaning & disinfection concentrate available; how to make controlled
dilution work to maximum effect.
 The types of manual dosing equipment available; the things to consider when
choosing the right type of system.
 Electronic dosing equipment for dish and glass washing, liquid laundry and drain
dosing applications.
 The importance of effective engineering capability.
 How suppliers assess the commercial viability of providing free-on-loan dosing
equipment.
We hope that our customers, distributors and end-users will find the advice provided to be
useful in ensuring that proper procedures are followed and that maximum benefits are
derived in terms of cost savings and cleaning effectiveness.
Please do not hesitate to Contact Us if you require further clarification on any of the points
raised in the series of articles. We will be only too happy to share our experience and expertise
in this area.
Arpal Group
www.thearpalgroupblog.com

3. 3
Chemicals & Dosing
Contents
1. Are You Concentrating Yet?
2. The Key Benefits of Using Concentrates
3. Types of Manual Dosing Equipment
4. Electronic Dosing Equipment
5. Engineering Services Reliability
6. Equipment & Commercial Viability

4. 4
1. Are You Concentrating Yet?
Welcome to our latest blog series covering the subject of chemicals and dosing. A hot topic in
the trade press, the six-part series will discuss the most important issues surrounding the
chemical dosing landscape.
Chemical Dosing: A Brief Overview
Chemical dosing systems, whether manual dispensing pumps or electronic dosing units, have
been around for 30 years or so. The core premise of both is the same – the use of equipment
to enable the end user to accurately dose or dilute a chemical concentrate at the point of use,
to give a ready to use cleaning or disinfecting solution.
Active ingredients make up a very small percentage of the composition of ready-to-use
cleaning products – the rest being water. In the past, this meant that large multi-site
organisations were spending a significant proportion of their cleaning expenditure on ‘buying
water’. With water being a readily available and cheap commodity in most developed
countries, the solution lay in pushing up the concentration of active ingredients. This is what
RP Adam has done over the last decade or more by manufacturing and marketing
concentrated chemicals.
Over the last 15 years, great strides have been made by the major dosing equipment
manufacturers. Dosing systems are now simpler to use, easier to install by technicians and
more reliable in terms of lifespan and accuracy of dilution control.

5. 5
It used to be that only the larger global corporations could afford to supply free-on-loan
equipment and resource with adequate engineering services. This is no longer the case.
Today, the provision of dosing equipment and associated engineering services is much more
accessible and more affordable to a wider spectrum of businesses.
Customer Expectations
The above has been a positive and progressive trend for both supplier and customer, and has
put economy in use higher up the agenda.
Many customers now expect chemical dosing stations as part of their cleaning package.
Suppliers can sometimes find managing these expectations a difficult task, especially if the
user’s financial contribution (spend) is not in line with the investment required by the supplier
to supply, install and service the equipment on an ongoing basis. We will look at this subject
in greater detail in future posts within this series.
Topics Covered
Key topics to be examined will include:
1. The types of cleaning & disinfection concentrate available and how they need to be
designed properly to make controlled dilution work to maximum effect i.e. in terms of
lowest in use costs and effectiveness of the cleaning and disinfection solutions.
2. The types of manual dosing equipment available including chemical to water types
and water/chemical mixing stations; the things to consider when choosing the right
type of system.
3. Electronic dosing equipment for dish and glass washing, liquid laundry and drain
dosing applications.

6. 6
4. The importance of effective engineering capability to a) respond to machine
breakdowns, b) maintain/replace equipment parts within a wider preventative
maintenance programme, and c) have the capability to roll out national multi-site
contracts efficiently and on time.
5. How suppliers assess the commercial viability of providing free-on-loan dosing
equipment and avoid some of the pitfalls when costing out contract investment.
Doing It Right
We believe, to do it properly, supplier businesses should expect to invest up to a double digit
percentage of their turnover in the provision of free-on-loan equipment and professional
engineering services each year.
Clearly, this will vary between business types and the sectors they are active in, but there are
no short cuts – you either commit and resource properly or you don’t. It is critical, therefore,
that there is a solid business model supporting investment in their clients’ operations.
All parties (supplier, distributor and end user customer) need to be clear on who is investing
in what and who benefits from such investment. The supplier and the distributor hopefully
receive a longer-term supply commitment, with the customer gaining the in-use cost and
lower wastage benefits of dilution control.
Chemical Dosing at RP Adam
RP Adam invests heavily in time and money to help research and develop new dosing
equipment technology, collaborating with leading equipment manufacturers to assist them
in bringing new innovations to market. We are frequently asked to participate in Q&A sessions

7. 7
when the concepts are at design stage and take part in soft launches to ensure these systems
are fit for purpose in a real and demanding working environment.
It is in our interest to ensure that these system innovations can handle the rigours of the
modern cleaning world. Likewise, equipment manufacturers have a high regard for our
concentrated products and use them for upper limit chemical compatibility tests to check that
the dispenser components can handle high chemical concentrations and will not corrode over
time.
Stephen Woolmer, CEO of UK based Brightwell Dispensers Ltd says:
“As equipment manufacturers we are under pressure to expand our expertise, product and
service offering in line with emerging customer needs. For decades, RP Adam has collaborated
with Brightwell Dispensers to develop some of the most innovative, reliable and accurate
dosing systems on the market today. Our focus has been to deliver cleaning professionals a
safe, precise and economic chemical management system for a multitude of applications such
as catering, laundry and housekeeping. With a combined experience of nearly 200 years, our
family business shares a vision to offer our customers first class service, support and innovative
products.”

8. 8
2. The Key Benefits of Using Concentrates
In part two of our six-part series we examine the stand-out benefits of using a controlled
chemical dispensing system and chemical concentrates and wonder why more businesses are
not realising these.
The cleaning industry has a reputation for being quite innovative, but it is the translation of
these benefits into the B2B commercial sphere where we find some resistance from the end
user; despite compelling evidence that using concentrates and chemical dosing systems can
immediately deliver real businesses benefit in many areas.
There are four key reasons to embrace concentrates and chemical dosing:
1. To reduce the amount of packaging waste and to control chemical consumption
thereby improving a business’s environmental profile and reduce its carbon footprint.
2. To ensure the accuracy of disinfectant solutions so that critical food-contact
equipment and surfaces are disinfected to meet industry standards. Similarly, for
health care and washroom surfaces where there is a potential for cross contamination.
3. To be able to control cleaning costs in a disciplined way rather than rely on end user
free-hand pouring or continued use of expensive and environmentally unsound ready-
to-use pre-packed cleaning products.
4. To reduce the risk to users of accidental contact with potentially hazardous chemical
products and thereby improve the safety profile of your business.
Waste Reduction & Improved Carbon Footprint

9. 9
The use of concentrates for the environmentally conscious business is a key driver in the
reduction of plastics waste. At RP Adam, we invest significantly in clients’ business to achieve
massive waste reduction targets. A good example would be a large equipment installation
project we implemented for a well-known national budget hotel chain comprising over 500
properties.
We will examine this case study in more detail in a later post, but one of the key factors in
winning the contract was our ability to drastically reduce chemical volume thereby
eliminating 30,000 one litre plastic bottles and caps going to landfill each year. This was
achieved by providing a bottle fill dispenser and a toilet cleaner concentrate to replace the
ready to use product.
The benefits are clear. Each 2x2lt pack of our Arpax concentrate dilutes to the equivalent of
264 x 750ml or 400 x 500ml ready to use bottles. This represents a considerable amount of
plastic waste being saved and is one of the main reasons our Arpax range is so popular.
With over 12,000 Arpax dispensers currently in the marketplace, RP Adam continues to
promote this range to the budget conscious purchasing manager with a green heart, both
home and abroad.
We also need to consider transportation and carbon footprint. A typical example is the
company that promotes their trigger pack hard surface cleaner which contains 99% water. A
simple equation follows:
A less active chemical = more bottles of product required = more road miles.

10. 10
One 4lt pack of RP Adam’s Arpax concentrate is the equivalent of 44 cases of 6x750ml
product, representing a significant saving in this area.
We focus so much on health and safety and environmental considerations nowadays that
perhaps we are ignoring an equally important issue: wastage. Wanton wastage is a crime,
especially when it can be so easily eliminated at no extra cost through controlled dispensing
systems. There are far too many ready-to-use products being used in today’s professional
cleaning world. As a company, we are very keen to significantly reduce this, but customers
need to play their part too.
Customers need to cast aside the red herring of perceived higher unit price of a concentrate
and focus on the in-use bottle cost instead. Although it may be associated with the old adage
that people are much better at spending other peoples’ money than their own, businesses
need to stamp out wastage and insist on suppliers and staff getting as much out of the bottle
as possible, not as little.
Where we talk about sustainability in environmental terms, on a day to day basis, it is
commercial sustainability that is the key – without it there is nothing left to talk about.
Accuracy of Disinfection On Critical Food Contact Surfaces or Washroom Surfaces
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) Guidance states unambiguously that a two-stage process
must take place – cleaning first with a good quality detergent to remove all visible surface
debris, before then disinfecting the surface in a way that meets either the BS EN 1276 or the
BS EN 13697 disinfectant standard.
In a previous post we highlighted 10 key issues that Food Business Operators should consider
regarding food safety and disinfection. You can view the article by clicking here.

11. 11
The BS EN 1276 standard is a suspension test used to evaluate bactericidal activity of chemical
disinfectants. Four test organisms are used, including E. coli, and to satisfy the test a 5-log
reduction (99.999%) is required within 5 minutes at the recommended dilution rate e.g. 10:1
which means one-part chemical to ten parts water.
The BS EN 13697 standard tests bactericidal performance on a non-porous surface. The same
four test bacteria used in the BS EN 1276 standard are also used in this test, but BS EN 13697
can also be extended to include fungicidal activity. To meet the BS EN 13697 standard, a 4-
log reduction (99.99%) in bacteria is required within 5 minutes. The reputable chemical
supplier should be able to readily produce independent scientific proof (normally a test
certificate) that the product has been tested to the appropriate BS EN standard by a
recognised testing laboratory.
There are numerous disinfection tests for different viruses, bacteria, spores and fungi, out-
with the catering sphere, for example (13697) MRSA; (13704) Clostridium Difficile; (14476)
Norovirus; (13623) Legionella. However, they are all tested within the same parameters of a
dilution (strength) of disinfectant within a certain amount of time. As an example you can
view the disinfection credentials for our Arpax SC super concentrates by clicking here and see
how they stand up, even at very high dilution rates.
It is critical therefore that the sanitiser/disinfectant used in practice for disinfection meets the
required dilution rate stated in the test protocol, and this can only be guaranteed with the
use of controlled dilution systems. The risk of human error is drastically reduced when it
comes to preparing the ready to use disinfection solution.
Cost Control
Until the 1970s-80s, the only chemical format available was pre-diluted, ready-to-use
solutions. The emergence and expansion of chains across various industries coupled with
impetuous economic crashes increased both the buyers’ power and cost awareness. Large
corporates, who spent hundreds of thousands of pounds on cleaning products per year,
started looking at ways to cut costs.
When we speak of cost control, we are NOT talking about the price of the product. We explore
the perceived price v realised cost conundrum in more detail later on in this series. For now,
let’s keep it simple. If the volume used decreases, then so do cleaning costs. How many times
have salesman sat across the table from the buyer and been asked how much does this cost?
Invariably sellers and buyers are not talking the same language at all, partly because it is a
convenient way for both players to play their part, where one talks of cost and the other only
wants to talk price.
We spend endless hours involved in preparing open tenders, where this critical area is
completely lost in translation. If through controlled dilution and the use of concentrates an

12. 12
end user business (a busy hotels chain for example) can be guaranteed to cut their
consumption of prepared cleaning solutions by 30%, then the focus on the price of the
cleaning concentrate becomes increasingly unimportant.
“Ah-hah!” says the buyer, “but if I can get the benefit of controlled dilution with
manufacturer A’s concentrates, and manufacturer B’s are cheaper, I get a double benefit
don’t I?” Theoretically yes, only assuming there is a guarantee of control and the products
that company B is promoting are up to the specification required to deliver the lowest in use
cost solutions. Many manufacturers pretend they are selling concentrates, but their tender
submissions ultimately prove that they have very little confidence in the concentrates. Why
would they want to sell them short if they could deliver on their promise?
Health and Safety
Again this is an issue we explore in more detail later, but the additional benefit is improving
staff safety and drastically reducing the chance of hazardous chemical concentrates splashing
into the eyes or skin of cleaning operatives.
Concentrates are more hazardous by their very nature, but rather than shy away from
choosing these types of chemicals, dispense systems should make them safer to use. RP Adam
believes in the concept of “bringing the factory to the end user safely” and we have a number
of innovations which allow users to gain the other benefits of using concentrates in as safe a
way as possible.

13. 13
3. Types of Manual Dosing Equipment
Commercial cleaning operatives need to feel comfortable using concentrated chemicals. RP
Adam has always viewed controlled dilution as a key driver in delivering best-in-class results
in the simplest and most economical way possible. The more progressive chemical
manufacturers should be striving to “put as much in the bottle as possible” in order to
maximise positive environmental impact while at the same time making it as safe for the end
user to use.
Manual dosing systems are essentially non-electronic ways to dispense chemical
concentrates into trigger spray bottles, mop buckets, washing up sinks and cleaning machines
(such as pressure washers, carpet extraction machines and scrubber driers). Chemicals are
either manually dispensed into water or automatically mixed using water pressure.
In its most basic format, the simple 5lt pelican pump is a manual dosing system which delivers
a controlled 30ml dose of chemical with each press of the pump. Although it provides some
control over free hand pouring guesswork, the downside with this is that there is nothing to
stop the cleaning operative pressing the pelican pump numerous times – despite the
manufacturer’s recommendations of how much to use!
There are also wall mounted manual pumps out there that look sophisticated, but many of
them are just glorified pelican pumps because there is nothing to prevent the user repeat
dosing. Why pay for this kind of system when a standard pelican pump for around £1 will
suffice?

14. 14
The solution is to provide a manual dosing unit with some form of delay mechanism which
prevents repeat dosing or to pre-mix chemical and water at source. Let us look at each of
these options.
Human Power: Manual Dispensing System with Delay Mechanism
Unless there is a way to eliminate or, at the very least, delay the chance of a user repeat
dosing (ignoring the manufacturer’s recommended dilution instructions) there is very little
point in using any manual dosing system. Many users incorrectly believe that as a general rule
the stronger the solution the better it will work. This may be true if we are talking about the
difference between 50:1 and 25:1 dilution but too much chemical in a cleaning solution can
lead to many problems.
Commercial grade cleaning products are specifically designed for economy in use. End users
MUST follow the recommended dilution rates from the manufacturer. Over concentration
and/or over dosing of chemical will often cause smearing on surfaces or leave them tacky to
touch because the surface is covered in chemical residue. Over dosing can also cause
irreparable damage to the surfaces being cleaned.
We have on a few occasions had complaints that our products “didn’t work” and that hot
water cleaned the floors better, only to find that there was so much chemical residue on the
floor surface that the hot water was actually diluting the chemical left on the floor to make it
a more effective cleaning solution!
The Arpax system from RP Adam and its range of concentrates is one of the best performing
ranges of chemical concentrates on the market comprising 13 products to cover most if not

15. 15
all catering and building services cleaning applications. The bottle, sink and bucket dispensers
have a manual lever which, when pushed to dose the chemical concentrate, will activate a
delay mechanism that locks the dispenser for 30 seconds, thus preventing the user from over-
dosing.
There is still a minor risk if the intrepid user is determined and prepared to wait to dose again,
but when you are filling a 500ml bottle, 30 seconds is a long time to wait, and patience or
time is not something cleaners usually have in abundance.
Some chemical companies out there allow sites to over-ride the delay mechanism by leaving
an over-riding key in or attached to the dispenser, thus enabling users to effectively put as
much in the bottle as they wish. It has never made sense to us and makes a mockery of having
a controlled dilution system in the first place. There can only be two reasons that this is
allowed to happen:
1. The chemical company is not confident that the concentration of their product is strong
enough to produce an adequate cleaning solution at the dispenser dilution rate, thereby
encouraging users to use more concentrate.
Or
2. The chemical company does not want the site to control their dilution (despite spending
money on installing dispensers) and indeed want them to use as much as possible to
maximise sales. It amazes us just how often we come across this when we gain new
business. It’s a waste of time, waste of money and quite frankly incompetent.

16. 16
RP Adam was the first UK chemical manufacturer to launch the Arpax system over 13 years
ago. Our customers have continued to purchase these products because of their superb
performance and formulation credentials, low cost in use and the environmental benefits of
re-using refillable bottles as opposed to “throw away” ready to use product packaging.
All our 2lt concentrates are colour coded by label, concentrate and ready to use solution and
are tagged in an alphanumeric format. All products are dispensed through a manually
operated bottle, sink or bucket type dispenser with a timed dosing control mechanism to
avoid repeated vending dispensing and wastage. None of the dispensers require a water or
electricity supply making their installation quick and easy.
Manual dosing units typically offer chemical doses of 5,10,15,20 and 30ml.
Water Power: Venturi or Chemical/Water Mixing Stations
The subject of dosing has been around for a very long time. Indeed, we can go back to the
late 18th century to find an Italian physicist and historian of science called Giovanni Battista
Venturi who discovered the “Venturi” effect and as a result he is the eponym for the Venturi
tube, flow meter and pump which are found in many chemical and water mixing systems
available today.
In simple terms, Venturi-Based Dilution (VBD) systems draw chemical concentrate from the
container by vacuum at a pre-set dose into the water stream to provide a ready-to-go
chemical solution from its tap. They need to be plumbed into a water supply and require
sufficient water pressure to ensure that the chemical can be drawn from the container and
mixed with the water to provide the correct solution.
These types of VBD systems are usually installed in high-traffic businesses that consume large
quantities of cleaning chemicals and have sufficient space to install the equipment, such as
in-flight/large commercial kitchens, hotels, airports, shopping centres and holiday resorts.
VBD systems are also particularly suited to users filling larger cleaning vessels like buckets,
sinks or floor scrubbing machines. The effect is a bit like filling your car up with petrol.
Whilst many chemical suppliers provide so-called “concentrates” with dosing systems, it is
clear that, on closer inspection, many of these chemicals are what we would describe as
“normal-strength” or “me-too” products, providing only one part of the benefit equation –
control – and ignoring the key aspect that higher concentration = massive waste reduction.

17. 17
The Arpax SC system utilises five authentic “superconcentrated” detergents and disinfectants
under the Arpax SC banner. Each 2x2lt pack will yield a minimum of 400 litres of ready to use
cleaning and disinfection solution. The 2lt concentrates are dispensed through a bottle and/or
bucket fill water and chemical VBD system which we call ECOPAX. There are two products for
housekeeping and building services and three for catering areas.
That’s 400 litres – or 800x500ml bottles of ready to use solution – with 100% guarantee of
performance, and control of waste and costs. Why? As the product dilution is controlled and
pre-mixed and it is impossible to put 1 litre of solution into a 500ml spray bottle, then the
user cannot in any way double dose or alter the pre-set dilution of the chemical solution.

18. 18
Although the super concentrates are “hazardous”, all ready to use solutions are classified as
non-hazardous in use and each 2lt container is fitted with SafeLink™ to provide an ultra-safe
system for dosing chemical concentrates safely.
The safety mechanism in the neck of the 2lt flask forms a leak-proof connection between the
chemical flask and the Ecopax dosing equipment, eliminating the chance of hazardous
chemicals coming into contact with the user. The super concentrates are also locked inside a
bespoke Ecopax 2lt cabinet so the end user cannot access it without a key. Did you know that
Ecopax and the Arpax SC concentrates have been recently nominated for the Tomorrow’s
Cleaning Awards 2016?
Venturi dosing units offer a far wider spectrum of dilution rates than traditional manual
dispense systems, and can be used to dose at extremely high dilutions in conjunction with
high quality concentrates.

19. 19
4. Electronic Dosing Equipment
Previous posts have focussed on chemical concentrates and the benefits of businesses moving
to these types of products through manual dispensing systems. Here we turn our attention
to technologically superior electronic dosing equipment focusing on three core areas –
automatic dish and glass washing, commercial liquid laundry and drain cleaning.
Automatic Dish and Glass Washing Dosing Units
Outside of swimming pools, water treatment and cleaning in place (CIP) industrial cleaning,
mechanical dishwashing has the highest volume products which are auto-dosed electronically
in the commercial cleaning sphere.
To achieve the best results, the majority of large commercial dish washers are fitted with
electronic dosing pumps to automatically dispense two main liquid chemicals: the dish washer
detergent (which cleans the dishes) and rinse additive (which helps dry the dishes). Both are
metered precisely and consistently into the wash and rinse cycles. Reputable chemical
manufacturers who install their own external, wall mounted dosing units usually provide
them free-on-loan and will install the equipment and programme the dose rates for their
specific chemicals.
We discuss the issue of free-on-loan dispensers as a separate topic in our final post in this
series. This equipment can be relatively expensive and there needs to be a conjoint
understanding between supplier and customer to ensure that the supplier’s investment is
protected.

20. 20
There are different types of electronic dosing systems available but most chemical suppliers
use timed (or cyclic) dosing to inject controlled amounts of their products into the wash tanks.
Calculated chemical dose levels are pre-set by the chemical manufacturer to ensure the
optimum concentration of chemical is used in each wash cycle, taking into account the
capacity of the wash tank and the volume of water added in the rinse cycle. The pumps are
then calibrated and the appropriate dose levels programmed into the memory of the dosing
unit to ensure that the correct amounts of chemical detergent and rinse aid are added every
time.
The other primary method of dosing chemicals into a dishwasher is through the use of
inductive or conductive probes fitted into the wash tank and which measure the level of
alkalinity in the tank. Historically these have proven to be unreliable because they can be
adversely affected by lime-scale and organic matter in the tank leading to variable results
through under/over dosing.
It should be noted that the detergent used in dish and glass washing is normal a corrosive
liquid and real care needs to be taken when handling such a product. Improper use can cause
severe skin burns or irreparable damage to the eyes.
It is in this area where a system such as Duotek 4 should be used. The system utilises a
revolutionary safety mechanism in the neck of the 5lt flask forming a leak-proof connection
between the chemical flask and the electronic dosing equipment. By choosing cleaning power
and this unique safety feature, users can be confident that the possibility of coming into
contact with corrosive chemicals is minimised.

21. 21
Automated Liquid Laundry Chemical Dosing
By comparison to dish washing liquid, laundry is a more complex area to successfully get auto-
dosing right. The premise, however, is the same – electronically controlling the dosing of
liquid laundry detergents to ensure that the correct amount of laundry chemicals (detergents,
destainers, fabric conditioners and finishing products) are dosed at the appropriate stage of
every wash cycle.
Done right, this will yield the best possible wash results as cost effectively as possible.
Because the dosing systems are pre-set and automated, there is minimum manual handling
of the chemicals, little chance of human error and less chance of chemicals being wasted
unnecessarily.
The sophisticated equipment used is highly flexible and can be programmed to dispense all
laundry chemicals at whatever dose levels required for each wash programme selected. With
most modern commercial laundry machines having up to 20 different wash programmes, this
level of flexibility is essential.
For example, different levels of detergent can be set depending on wash load types; softeners
can be added at different levels or not added at all; and specialist chemicals such as
emulsifiers or starches can be programmed as required. The number of dosing permutations
caters for every launderers’ requirements.
The volume of chemical concentrate delivered by the pump is dependent on pump size or
capacity, tubing diameter size and the length of time that the pump runs. Generally, a pump
should be capable of delivering the required doses of chemicals within a 45 to 60 seconds

22. 22
window whilst the water flush valve is open so it is important that the correct sizes of pumps
are chosen in relation to the demand/size of the washer extractor machines.
The programming of dosing equipment is extremely important and must be carried out by
experienced chemical laundry technicians otherwise the system will be compromised and the
laundry may not achieve optimum results.
Chemical dosing within a laundry environment is far more complex and sensitive than in
mechanical glass and dish washing. Only reputable chemical suppliers will have the
knowledge and know-how to do this properly. Once everything is calibrated and set-up, the
laundry system will be strictly controlled to dispense precise doses of laundry chemicals into
each wash programme.
Drain Cleaning & Electronic Dosing
Smelly or blocked drains can cause serious problems for the commercial caterer or hospitality
business. However, premises can easily keep drains flowing freely with the use of specialised
biological products that digest organic matter.
These products are made up of a concentrated blend of natural micro-organisms and
biodegradable surfactants designed to digest fats, grease and organic matter in an
environmentally sensitive way. They are designed to be drip fed through an automatic dosing
system.
When dosed into the drainage system the ‘friendly’ bacteria create enzymes to accelerate the
natural degradation process, turning potentially drain blocking fats into harmless simple

23. 23
sugars, carbon dioxide and water. The concentrate is dosed into the drain or grease trap at a
time when the site is less active (generally at night).
In a standard hotel/restaurant, a daily dose rate of 150 – 200mls is sufficient to maintain
drains and grease traps, yielding between 100 – 133 days treatment from a 20lt container.
Larger commercial properties with industrial sized grease traps may require stronger
solutions of specialised drain chemicals and more powerful equipment to dose larger
quantities of chemicals. In such premises, it is critical that accurate dosing levels are
maintained to ensure that water regulatory guidelines set by local water authorities are not
breached. Continuous breaches can lead to very hefty fines and in extreme cases
imprisonment.
In our next post, we examine the importance of chemical suppliers being able to provide
effective, reliable and professional ongoing engineering support for their customers. Without
this, it is impossible to achieve consistent, quality results when using controlled dilution
systems (electronic or manual). In simple terms, there is clearly little point in having a modern
dosing unit fitted if it is not installed, maintained, and programmed correctly.

24. 24
5. Engineering Services Reliability
So far in this series, we have looked at two of the three key parts to the chemical dosing
equation: the importance of robust cleaning/disinfection chemicals that can be diluted cost
effectively and technologically advanced dosing equipment capable of accurate chemical
dosing to keep costs and consumption down.
In this post, we look in detail at the unsung heroes – the fully trained technicians who install
and maintain this equipment.
Professional Engineering Services
Too many suppliers have one or two of the above factors covered, but by neglecting or not
investing in professional engineering services, the offering fails to deliver on its promises.
Some chemical suppliers may “talk the talk” about regular service calls, but these claims need
to be substantiated. We at RPA “walk the walk” by continuously checking the integrity of
tubing, dosing pump calibrations and pump heads as part of our regular service calls; changing
them as and when they begin to show signs of wear and tear.
By adopting this proactive approach to engineering support, we reduce the incidence of
breakdown call-outs and cleaning downtime.
Dosing Units

25. 25
Chemical dosing units in a busy professional environment work hard – very hard – sometimes
24/7. As such, there will be wear and tear on equipment.
With constant dosing, the chemicals eventually put severe strain on the pump tubing which,
if left unattended, would eventually lead to tube failure or inconsistent dosing.
Regular service calls and preventative maintenance checks can highlight impending problems,
be fixed on the spot and avoid problems further down the line.
Lana Turner, who leads RP Adam’s engineering services says:
“We have a dedicated engineering helpline, a team of administrators and field service
operatives (CSR’s) who are all trained in troubleshooting and preventative maintenance. Our
CSR’s are despatched to our customers’ sites using an automated planning system managed
at HQ. This enables us to see who is closest to a call out and how quickly we can attend site.
All calls are logged on our customer database and reported back using real time reporting so
we can monitor the jobs and ensure they are followed through to the customers’ satisfaction”.
Engineer Options
Typically, engineers are either directly employed or contracted by chemical providers. Either
way, it is a big financial commitment to get the job done properly. For the smaller provider
who may operate within a tight geographical location, employed technicians may offer a
viable solution. For companies operating across a larger geographical area and who require
effective and efficient national engineering coverage, contracting out is usually the best
option.

26. 26
As with dosing equipment manufacturers, the quality and choice of engineering contractors
is far better today than say 20 years ago, with many businesses offering consistent, reliable
and quality services throughout the UK. By paying fair rates, respecting the value of the
contractor and providing work on a regular basis, true partner relationships develop and
suppliers/contractors can share in each other’s success.
For a fully national chemical supplier with thousands of end user sites on their books, a full
time employed engineering team is neither financially viable nor effective, simply because
the work cannot be 100% guaranteed and the supplier cannot predict where or when the
work will need to be done.
Customer Expectations
Customers will not live with a two or three-day lead time to attend broken or faulty
equipment and will invariably look for an alternative supplier if the response times are not
sufficiently good.
RP Adam offers a market leading engineering service, led by an experienced in-house
engineering team who liaise directly with customers and engineers to ensure a prompt,
reliable and professional service for both our end user customers and distributor partners.
Lana adds:
“Over the years we have built great relationships with our contractors and as a result have
access to over 30 engineers throughout the UK. I suppose it helps when we constantly are
giving them work! They are briefed to ensure they work to our Code of Conduct and the process
works very efficiently from logging the initial call, despatching the engineer, to completing
and closing off the job within as short a time-scale as possible. We all work hard to provide a
fantastic service and it helps to cement customer loyalty.”
Wasted time is wasted money; therefore, a prompt, reliable, efficient and professional
engineering service from your chemical supplier is essential in maintaining the operational
efficiency of a commercial operation where dosing equipment is on site and in-use. Customers
need to know that, if a breakdown is reported, it is dealt with in a prompt and efficient manner
to minimise the downtime for the operator.

27. 27
RFID Tags
It is important that, as part of the regular service visits, the chemical supplier visually checks
the location, condition and operational efficiency of all dosing equipment provided by the
company. Far too many times this is forgotten or avoided by the supplier, because all they are
interested in is getting an order.
To ensure file personnel focus on this area, RP Adam now affixes specially encoded RFID tags
to all free-on-loan electronic and manual chemical dosing equipment. There is also a welcome
tag at each site which maintains a log of all equipment on site and gives the CSR a site map of
all areas where tagged equipment is located. This is particularly important for larger sites as
this ensures that we check all critical areas of our customer’s premises.
Our CSR then scans the encoded equipment sticker and reports on any material deficiencies
with the equipment – they will either fix it there and then or process an engineering request.
All jobs are recorded, photographed and emailed via iPad to an appropriate person at our
Head Office in real time, and immediate steps are taken to rectify the problem.
Radio-frequency identification (RFID) is the wireless use of electromagnetic fields to transfer
data, for the purposes of automatically identifying and tracking tags attached to objects. The
tags contain electronically stored information. RP Adam integrated this technology into its
business in 2013 to enhance its customer service quality and operational efficiency.
Our last post in this series focuses on the affordability of the chemicals, equipment and
engineering services support. If the commercial model does not support this kind of service
and investment, then the house of cards begins to fall.

28. 28
6. Equipment & Commercial Viability
In our last post in this series we focus on commercial viability.
Make no bones about it, the provision of free on loan equipment can be an expensive business
if not managed properly. Chemical suppliers (distributors and manufacturers) can get badly
burned financially if they get their account viability equation wrong.
The assessment as to whether a dosing system installation is suitable or commercially viable
needs to be well thought through, otherwise the customer may be receiving a Rolls Royce
system when a Mini Cooper one may fit the bill better.
There is a graveyard of suppliers who have tried to be just a little too smart by offering dirt
cheap concentrates and expensive dosing equipment (which needs fitted by qualified
professional technicians) only to find that the investment they have made in capital
equipment and engineering costs has taken a significant chunk out of the available profit and
has rendered the potentially profitable account into a break-even account at best.
In certain quarters of the cleaning industry there is a difference of opinion about the relative
price charged for chemical products suitable for controlled dilution and the actual cost-in-use.
The reputable suppliers’ chemical price quite simply should support the cost of the associated
equipment and engineering support, and yield a reasonable profit, whilst delivering savings
to the client. Getting the balance of this equation right is not as simple as many people think,
and can be financially disastrous through inexperienced assessment or a blind commitment
to give the customer whatever they want – at any cost.

29. 29
It is important to remember that the cost of the initial investment and the associated costs of
maintaining chemical dispensing equipment in good working order throughout the duration
of a supply contract remains the responsibility of the chemical supplier, not the distributor or
the customer. As such, the equipment remains the property of the supplier at all times.
This title of ownership of dispensers can sometimes become a hot topic when customers or
distributors misguidedly believe that a combination of making profit on product sales and the
writing off of the equipment over a period of time in some way magically transfers the
ownership to them. At no stage is there any legal transfer of ownership. Free-on-loan means
exactly what it says, and by lending the equipment, the supplier always retains ownership no
matter how long the equipment has been in-situ, unless there is a written agreement whereby
the supplier confirms the sale/transfer of the equipment.
Can you remember the conversation Trigger had with Del Boy and the boys in the local pub
in a classic “Only Fools & Horses” episode where he declared to Del that he had used the same
broom for 15 years? It was only when he mused that he had gone through 14 broom handles
and 17 brush heads over that period that he had in fact had 15 brushes not one!
Over the period of a contract, dosing equipment can be viewed in exactly the same way. It
may be perceived as the same original piece of kit and perceived as old with little or no value,
but over the years it will have had many pump heads, tubing or component replacements to
keep it in working order – as such, the equipment always maintains a real value. Whether it
is one-year-old or ten years old, as long as it is in working order and is fit for purpose it still
has a meaningful value, and is still provided free-on-loan from the owner.
For any supplier, return on investment is the key consideration – there seems little point in
installing expensive dosing equipment on a free-on-loan basis, if the chemical product is being

30. 30
sold at a nominal commodity price to the end-user. It is not because manufacturers are greedy
or trying to pull the wool over unsuspecting customers eyes, it is simple maths.
A genuine concentrated product sold at £12.50 per litre which dilutes to 100:1 equates to just
over 6p per 500ml of ready to use solution. The misconception regarding the definition of
PRICE and COST allows some chemical suppliers to try and talk about these two in the same
breath and to offer a mythical double benefit of cheap concentrates at lowest in-use costs.
If the same concentrate was sold at £2.50 per litre, (1.25p per 500ml bottle of ready to use),
how does this work as a commercial model bearing in mind there are 50 x 500ml bottles
available from that litre of concentrate? The customer basically gets free chemical and the
supplier gets no repeat sales whilst funding the provision, the installation and maintenance
of the dosing equipment – no wonder some companies get cold feet!
Some notable chemical suppliers have moved away from chemical concentrates because they
don’t see regular repeat purchases. Likewise, their sales people don’t like selling them
because they don’t get regular orders and in their minds are missing out on sales commission.
It does make you wonder just how many products are being sold by these suppliers on a daily
basis and then being wasted through lack of controlled dilution.
We hope you have found this six-part series useful and informative and look forward to talking
again with you all very soon.