'Magic water' maker targets NHS superbugs

A SMALL firm in the Borders is hoping to solve the problems of Scotland's dirty hospital wards with its "magic water" product, designed to kill hard-to-beat bugs such as MRSA and Clostridium difficile.

Duns-based Aqualution is in talks with Aberdeen University School of Medicine to test its invention - which uses electrodialysed salt water - for effectiveness in wound cleaning and healing.

The magic water solution, a biocide called Hypochlorous acid, has already been used successfully in Bupa care homes and has been proven to reduce bugs to almost nil - where current products like bleach or other disinfectants are seen as less reliably effective. The product is natural and even safe to drink, the firm claims.

The development by Aqualution comes after Scotland's "dirty dozen" hospitals were named and shamed by the Healthcare Environment Inspectorate last week. They included Edinburgh's Western General, Aberdeen Royal Infirmary and Queen Margaret Hospital in Dunfermline.

The process for creating hypochlorous acid, a solution that naturally occurs in the human body and a by-product of mixing chlorine and water, has been known since the 1970s. It was first developed as part of the Russian space programme. But until recently, the solution has proved unstable and couldn't be stored. Aqualution believes it has developed a process whereby the resulting product is stable and can be sold in spray bottles and barrels

Steve Godber, the chairman of Aqualution, said: "The product is usually generated in situ for use in industrial cleaning, for food and drink plants. We have managed to get it with a shelf-life of about two years. That transforms it to something that you can use packaged where and when you need it."

Aqualution has a turnover of less than 1 million, generated through the manufacture of electrodialysis machines at Duns, which the firm sells or leases to customers, particularly in the food and agriculture sector. Clients include drinks maker Britvic and Glenrath Farms, one of Scotland's largest egg producers.

Godber aims to scale up the business through both the leasing of machines and the sale of bottles of biocide water. The firm will invest 25,000 expand its operation in Duns to start packaging the product in half-litre and one-litre bottles, plus five-litre drums.

Aqualution has also applied to have the solution registered under the European Biocidal Products Directive.

Godber estimates it will take another year-and-a-half to complete the registration process, but says this will give the firm's product a competitive edge. The total cost of the application will reach 1m.