Method for the Determination of Rinse Performance in Clothes Washers

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Summary

This report was prepared by Energy Efficient Strategies under contract to the Department of Environment and Heritage with financial contributions to the project from the Australian Greenhouse Office.

For some years the Australian Government through Standards Australia committee EL15/4 has sought to develop a reliable test method for measuring the rinse performance of clothes washing machines.

The introduction of a Rinse Performance requirement will facilitate the introduction of mandatory water efficiency rating and labelling in Australia in 2006. Without a rinse performance requirement high water efficiency ratings could be achieved by reducing rinse performance to levels that would not meet the needs of washing machine users.

Existing measures used for measuring rinse performance (eg ANSI/AHAM and IEC) have depended on measuring the alkalinity of the rinse liquor. Despite recent efforts to improve the accuracy of this approach, the accuracy is still questionable. In addition the use of the alkalinity method presents particular problems in Australia where different detergents with differing alkalinity loads are used depending upon the washer type.

The purpose of the studies and testing programs summarised in this report was to develop a suitable test method for measuring the rinse performance of clothes washing machines. The test method was required to provide pertinent, accurate and reproducible test results.

A secondary aim of this testing program was to determine an appropriate rinse performance pass mark for regulatory application.

This page last modified 23 February 2006