Learn the many ways EM1 can help in DOT Projects.
Kalifornsky Beach Project: 2009 Honorable mention at DOT environmental expo. More details coming soon..
Commercial Applications
Commercial Applications
- Hotels and Housekeeping
- Restaurants and Commercial Kitchens
- Wastewater Treatment
- Fats Oils and Grease
- Corrosion Control
All versions of the Effective Microorganisms™ brand (EM-1®) work great as environmentally-safe de-greasers and all-purpose cleaners. EM-1® is especially useful as a cleaning or deodorizing agent due to its antioxidant qualities and ability to eat grease.
Effective Microorganisms™ brands do not contain any hazardous ingredients and are not hazardous to humans, animals, or plants. Because of FDA restrictions, we are not recommending the use of Effective Microorganisms™ on food preparation surfaces such as counters and cutting boards.
All versions of the Effective Microorganisms™ brand (EM-1®) work great as environmentally-safe de-greasers and all-purpose cleaners. EM-1® is especially useful as a cleaning or deodorizing agent due to its antioxidant qualities and ability to eat grease.
Effective Microorganisms™ brands do not contain any hazardous ingredients and are not hazardous to humans, animals, or plants. Because of FDA restrictions, we are not recommending the use of Effective Microorganisms™ on food preparation surfaces such as counters and cutting boards.
Cleaning with Effective Microorganisms
For hotel and home housekeeping, EM-1® applications will first reduce and eliminate odor in carpets, furniture, trash, etc. Second, it is also used to clean windows, mirrors, toilets, tubs, flooring, etc.
Benefits of EM-1®
- In toilets and tubs EM-1® has an effect on salts that prevents them from binding to other substances, therefore, getting rid of the “ring”.
- EM-1® will cut down the use of detergent in laundry, eliminate odor, clean laundry better, and help drainage.
- In swamp coolers or humidifiers, EM-1® will keep unit clean, eliminate odors and freshen the air you breath.
EM-1® can be used in the following ways:
| Dilution with water | Purpose | Rate | Frequency |
| 1:10 | Odors & Tobacco Smoke | Slightly Moist | Daily or when needed |
| 1:10 | Trash Receptacles, Dumpsters, and Enclosures | Wet | Daily or when needed |
| 1:10 | Garbage Disposals | 1/4 cup per unit | Daily at Closing |
| 1:50† | Kitchen Floor Drain | 1/4 cup per unit | Daily at Closing |
| 1:300* | Carpets & Mats | Slightly Moist | 1-2 times per week |
| 1:100* | Urinals | 1/4 cup per unit | Daily at Closing |
| 1:100* | Metal Stall Base | Wet Spray | Daily at Closing |
| 1:100* | Kitchen sinks, dishwasher, and all non-food prep areas | Appropriate Amounts | Daily cleanup |
| 0 dilution | Swamp Coolers and Humidifiers | 1-4 ounces | One time per week |
| 1:100* | Bathrooms Fixtures, mirrors and windows | 1/2 cup per bathroom | 1-2 times per week |
| 1:100* | Kitchen Floors | 3/4 cup per mop bucket | Daily Mopping |
| 0 | Laundry | 1/8 cup per load (residential size machine) | In place of detergent |
| * For tougher applications, use a higher concentration of EM-1®.† If excess water from mop bucket is poured down drain, there should be no need for additional applications to the drains. | |||
Dilution should be done as follows:
Example: 1 ounce EM-1® to 10 ounces water
Store EM-1® at room temperature (55 to 80 degrees F) and out of direct sun light. Chemicals such as bleach, ammonia, and anti-bacterial soap should be avoided before and after EM-1® use.
Pest control:
Spraying areas where pasts are a problem will prevent odor, which attracts flies and other vectors. Similarly, EM-1® will prevent putrefaction, which will, in time, eliminate the food source for ants, roaches, rats, and mice. These pests leave scent trails, through access point (crawl spaces, utility access both overhead, below and through walls) to return upon, and for others to follow. Periodically spraying these areas with EM-1® eliminates insect and rodent scent trails.
Available in 5 gallon, 55 gallon, and 1 gallon sizes ready-to-use (Activated EM-1®). 5 gallon pictured below.
Restaurants need Effective Microorganisms™. Grease and odors hover everywhere in the operation. Restaurant owners purchase various products for treating all these issues (soap, degreaser, bleach, drain cleaner, acids, enzymes, etc.). Using EM-1® for all these applications will take care of these problems and save the restaurant owner time & money.
With all the food, garbage, and water, restaurants are notorious for attracting pests. Therefore, cleanliness is extremely important. Also, restaurants care about keeping chemicals away from the foods they plan to prepare for their customers. What better way is there than to get rid of the chemicals and clean with all natural products?
Restaurants need Effective Microorganisms™. Grease and odors hover everywhere in the operation. Restaurant owners purchase various products for treating all these issues (soap, degreaser, bleach, drain cleaner, acids, enzymes, etc.). Using EM-1® for all these applications will take care of these problems and save the restaurant owner time & money.
With all the food, garbage, and water, restaurants are notorious for attracting pests. Therefore, cleanliness is extremely important. Also, restaurants care about keeping chemicals away from the foods they plan to prepare for their customers. What better way is there than to get rid of the chemicals and clean with all natural products?
The Grease Trap:
Extending the time between cleanouts of the trap and drains will save the restaurants several hundred dollars per cleanout. EM-1® will digest the majority of the grease and stabilize proteins (something no other product on the market can currently claim.) This will control odors and keep the trap from backing up.
Regular applications of Effective Microorganisms™ brand products (EM-1®) will keep the restaurant pest and grease free, leaving the restaurant owner with a secure feeling, knowing there will be no grease trap overflows or health department problems.
The Hood, Behind, and Underneath The Line:
There are a couple of easy ways to apply a solution of EM-1® to these areas during breakdown. One is to use a pump sprayer and spray in a fine mist each time you breakdown or cleaning. Another way is to use a spray bottle and spray the solution directly on the surface at the end of each shift. Within a short time, the grease will be eaten off the wall and you will only need to polish the surface. A Great Time Saver!
General Cleaning During Breakdown:
To increase the benefits of the EM-1® applications, it is recommended to use Effective Microorganisms™ (EM-1®) in place of any synthetic soaps, de-greasers, and cleaners. We also now have Earth Shine All-Purpose Cleaner: Commercial Concentrate for all-purpose cleaning throughout the restaurant. You can combine the two for added grease digestion. Simply mix them in your wash bucket during cleaning in equal amounts.
Using EM-1® during the nightly wash down (breakdown) on the line and the firewall behind is great for fire preventive. The EM-1® eats the grease on the walls, the stoves, and the hood and gets rid of the fire hazard by eating the grease.
Moping The Floor (Tile, Stone, and Wood):
Add a combination of water and EM-1® to the mop bucket. You won’t need any soap, bleach, or grease cutter any more. The floor will not have that haze of grease. This will be great because it will prevent the slick slipping hazard that is almost impossible to get rid of with normal cleaners.
Use a sprayer and spray a solution of water and EM-1® onto the carpet after each dining time. Since carpets harbor odors, this will help to stop the odor, build up of grease, and stop matting of the carpet fibers. This will leave the room smelling and looking fresh every day.
When steam cleaning the carpets, add a cup of EM-1® for each full reservoir of water.
Odor (Smoke, Food, Grease, etc):
Regular use of EM-1® inside the restaurant will stop odors in the sewer or septic lines that hover around the manholes that your walk by on their way into your restaurant.
Spraying the dining area (the front of the house) with a mixture of Effective Microorganisms™ (EM-1®) and water will keep grease down on the carpeted areas and eat any odors from dirt, spilled alcohol, and smoke.
All the mats should be hosed down with a solution of EM-1® during normal cleaning as well. This will not only keep odors from coming out of the mats, but will also eat the grease on the makes, keeping them from being so slippery.
EM-1® can be put into an evaporative cooler or in Smoke-Eater® filters to get rid of the smells in the air. EM-1® in air conditioner and “swamp cooler” keeps the components and filters clean and running efficiently. This can be done by using a simple siphon unit connected to a container of EM-1®.
Cleaning the bathrooms with an Effective Microorganisms™ (EM-1®) solution will get rid of all smells of urine and drain back gassing.
The recommended dilution rates for typical food service establishment and industry applications are as follows:
| Dilution Rate | Purpose | Quantity | Application |
| Odors & Tobacco Smoke | Slightly Moist | Daily | |
| Dumpsters | Wet | ||
| 1: 10 | Garbage Disposal | ||
| Kitchen Floor Drains | 1-2 ounces per Drain | Daily at closing | |
| Floor Drains | |||
| Food Waste Container | Final Rinse | ||
| 1:20 | Carpets & Mats | Slightly Moist | 1-2 times per week |
| Kitchen sinks,Dishwashers, and all non-food prep areas | Appropriate Amount | 1-2 times per week | |
| Bathroom fixtures/floors | Final Rinse/Mopping | ||
| 1:50 | Urinals | 1-2 ounces per drain | Daily at closing |
| Metal Stall Base* | Wet Spray | ||
| 1:1:100** | Floors | 1/4-3/4 cup per bucket | **Hot water final mop |
*Stops rusting of metal surfaces by eliminating free radicals and oxidation.
**{EM-1®: Vinegar: Hot Water} Each night use mild non-antibacterial soap and 5% acid white vinegar to eliminate the grease film on the floor. For tougher application use 1:1:50.
Pest Control
Spraying the shed areas, mats, and in the fry-o-lator drums will prevent odor, which attracts flies. Similarly, EM-1® will prevent putrefaction, which, in turn, eliminates the food source for ants, roaches, rats, and mice. These pests leave scent trails through access points (crawl spaces, utility access both overhead and below and through walls) to return upon and for other pests to follow. Periodically cleaning these areas with EM-1® will eliminate the insect’s scent trails. Reduction in insect and rodent populations will also decrease problems from birds and other predators in dumpsters.
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EM America provides clients with specifically targeted applications of EM Technology® that are able to dramatically reduce odors caused by putrefied wastes. The picture on the right shows the walls of a lift station that once were black and now look like new cement. This dramatic change was achieved simply through the application of EM-1® Waste Treatment. This effect happens throughout the entire collection system when EM Technology® is properly applied in the collection system. Timing, flow rates, system design, and management are all considered in developing an application program for a wastewatertreatment plant and collection system (sewer).
EM-1® Waste Treatment has a unique ability to stabilize complex proteins through a shift from anaerobic putrefaction cycles to a fermentative cycle. Hair and plastics can play havoc with the balancing of an anaerobic digester by creating over-thickening of the scum layer. Hair is primarily composed of complex proteins, which have been historically difficult to stabilize to a point at which the biological breakdown will occur in a timely manner. EM-1® Waste Treatment will assist by accelerating protein stabilization.
EM-1® Waste Treatment is applied at various stages in the treatment process for optimum results. The application site and dosage amounts are dependent on the type of treatment system, the age of the system, and the goals of the parties involved. Application rates can vary from 1: 1000 to 1: 40,000. The average rate into a treatment system is around 1: 10,000 (based on daily flow). The EM-1® is activated and injected at various points throughout the collection system on a steady flow.
The microbes in EM-1® Waste Treatment secrete beneficial substances such as organic acids, enzymes and antioxidants (chelated minerals and vitamins) when in contact with organic matter. In wastewater applications, EM-1® assists in shifting conditions from putrefactive to non-putrefactive. This unique ability enables EM-1® to transition the wastewater collection system into a pretreatment system, thereby lowering the loading demand on wastewater treatment plants. Essentially, consistent applications of EM Technology® into the collection system will increase the capacity of the treatment plant, decrease the operation costs, and improve the efficiency of the entire system.
Since every treatment system is in itself a separate ecosystem, EM America will custom-design each application for a wastewater treatment system after an assessment of the entire system.
EM Technology® offers a unique approach to dealing with fats, oils, and grease. Instead of emulsifying them, as enzyme products do, EM-1® Microbial Inoculant will digest them, eliminating them from the system. During the natural fermentation process, over 50 different enzymes are produced by the microbes in EM-1®. Since there is no freeze drying or pasteurization of the EM-1®, all the enzymes are left in solution and continue to be produced by the live microbes in the culture. In regards to grease digestion, the most important of these enzymes are protease and lipase. Microbes use enzymes to accelerate the breakdown of various materials. This is one of the main reasons EM-1® Waste Treatment does such a great job at digesting grease. If you inoculate a system with only enzymes, you don’t necessarily have the microbes in place that can use them and finish the process.
This is evidenced by a reduction of BOD and COD, after application directly into grease traps, within the waste stream. EM-1® Waste Treatment lowers the cloud point of the FOGs within the trap, eliminating the formation of paraffin’s, thereby reducing gas pockets of H2S gas formed around putrefactive food particles.
EM-1® Waste Treatment improves efficiency of the treatment plant skimmer tanks to capture a greater amount of grease.
Biological polishing of the sewer pipes occurs as the EM-1® Waste Treatment is seeded throughout the collection system, thus reducing clogging and crowning from saponifiable or non-saponifiable grease.
Prevention of Rust
On of the most damaging effects on equipment is rusting. Rust is an oxidation reaction. Moisture on metal is not a good thing when there are oxidizing agents around. Almost any cleaner used today is an oxidizer. Ammonia and bleach will oxidize metals, causing rusted equipment, thereby increasing operations costs over time.
Antioxidants reverse oxidation (that is what the “anti” means). Antioxidants are chelated minerals and vitamins. EM-1® is fermented with cane molasses. Cane molasses have roughly 40 different trace minerals. The microbes in EM-1® will synthesize various bio-available vitamin compounds (including B complex and Vitamin A) and enzymes during the fermentation process. Therefore, EM-1® Waste Treatment is known to reverse putrefaction and oxidation through secreted by-products, namely, antioxidants. Antioxidants help with pH balance and are known for preventing and even reversing corrosion.
Prevention of Crowning
The pH balance also contributes to prevention of H2S combining with water vapor and forming H2SO4, the main cause of crowning in sewer lines. Thiobacillus bacteria are the same bacteria that are used in strip mining to produce the acid wash. These bacteria are found everywhere on earth, but they need a certain pH, water, and sulfur to form sulfuric acid. The wastewater vapors in sewer lines provide the perfect environment for sulfuric acid production.*
The microbes in EM-1® not only release O2 during their respiration which raises the pH, they also ingest a tremendous amount of sulfur, therefore removing it from the waste stream.*
Rising corrosive gases in lift stations can be dealt with through several types of applications and targeted activation with EM-1® Waste Treatment, thereby preventing corrosion from outset. With repeated applications of EM-1® Waste Treatment to lift-station’s pumps, housing, and concrete, corrosion and rusting can actually be reversed.
In wastewater, antioxidants have a scavenging effect in the treatment system, pulling compounds out of suspension by combining with salts, thus causing a crystallization formation into a benign salt. By preventing various salts and mineral formation build up, the pipes will be polished without the need for mechanical cleaning. This all equals saving the municipality and the taxpayers money.