Eco-auto box wash
New Zealand’s Lotus Wash Systems has developed the world’s first fully-automatic sea container washing unit at the Fremantle Port operation of AWH Logistics.
High-pressure water jets blast at 2,300psi into each of the locking joints of a container, which is positioned on a special frame, and a series of rotating nozzles work at 2,000psi along the top, bottom and ends.
No mains water is used in the AWH installation, with rainwater captured and stored in 200,000-litre on-site tanks and, following a washing cycle, degreased and filtered for re-use.
Compared with manual washing, cleaning time has been reduced from up to three hours to just four-and-a-half minutes and the quality is such that MAF Biosecurity New Zealand has hinted that it will not need to re-inspect containers treated by the system in pending New Zealand installations.
Having paid NZ$500,000 (US$360,520) for the unit, AWH is understood to have already charged A$100,000 (US$91,230) for cleaning containers with it in just one month.
