I originally got the Tersano Lotus Sanitizing System to clean fruits and vegetables…but it does so much more. The pitch sounds like a cross between snake oil and science fiction, but this device works. What it does is infuse water with extra oxygen molecules, which turns it into something of a miracle cleaner.

The system comes with two attachments – a spray bottle and a bowl. The spray bottle lets you use the oxygenized water to clean just about anything – tough stains in laundry or carpet, mildew in the shower, counter-top surfaces like granite or tile – with simple tap water and no dangerous chemicals. The bowl lets you clean fruit or vegetables with treated water, resulting in killing bacteria and breaking down and dissolving pesticides.

The system does all this with tap water, and it couldn’t be much easier to use. To use the spray bottle attachment simply fill the bottle with water, set it on the base, and press a button. The machine whirs away for a few minutes, and beeps when it’s ready. Once the water has been oxygenated, it is charged up for about fifteen minutes…after which time the oxygen has been depleted harmlessly in the air.

To use the bowl attachment, pre-rinse your food to get the “big pieces” washed away, then dump it in the bowl and fill it with tap water until the food is covered. Place the bowl on the base and press the button, and when the machine is done, leave the food in the charged water for a couple of minutes. The base will beep when the time is up, and your food is ultra-clean!

There are other available attachments for the system, including cleaners for toothbrushes and baby bottles, or a floor mop similar to a Swiffer.

The ozone in the water doesn’t chap your hands. In fact, I have soaked infected cuts in it on occasion and it seems to help. The only warning they give is not to swallow it… I suspect this is because it would kill the beneficial bacteria in your gut, which would be very bad for you indeed!

It hasn’t bleached anything I’ve tried it on, and that includes a lot of different fruits and vegetables.

I notice that I left out that it’s also an effective room deodorizer. Just spray a fine mist of the treated water in the air, and it draws out whatever’s floating around making it smell.

All in all, the system sounds like a bunch of malarkey but it really does work!

-- Steve Coallier 05/18/09

(Ozone's snake-oil reputation comes from ozone "air cleansers" -- the EPA warns against breathing ozone. But ozone within water quickly kills bacteria, then vanishes. Detergent, by contrast, leaves edible films of soap behind. -- Bruce Sterling — editors)