Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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1
Method for activatioa of water aad usage of water activated is such a
maaaer
The present invention relates to a method for activation of water and also
usage
of activated water. Activated water and a method for the production thereof
are
required in the spheres of medicine, chemical process engineering, food
chemistry, agriculture, printing and in further spheres of technology.
The object of the present invention is thereby to indicate a method for
activation of water and to make available usages of water activated in such a
manner.
This object is achieved by the method according to claim 1 and also the usages
according to claim 19. Advantageous developments of the method according to
the invention and the usages according to the invention are given in the
dependent claims.
According to the method according to the invention water is activated by
producing singlet oxygen and bringing this into contact with the water.
Oxygen occurs in its basic state as a triplet molecule 02 and can be converted
into the excited singlet state by supplying energy. This excited singlet
oxygen is
particularly reactive and is itself already used in medicine and chemical
process engineering. Relative to this excited singlet oxygen, water molecules
for their part act as quenchers so that the excitation energy of the singlet
oxygen passes non-radiatively into the water. Activated water is produced.
This activation is revealed in a change in the structure of the water, which
structure is formed by hydrogen bonds.
The production of activated water can thereby be effected such that singlet
oxygen is produced either in a gaseous, oxygen-containing medium and this
now singlet oxygen-containing medium is introduced into the water or by the
singlet oxygen being produced directly in the water. For this purpose oxygen
must be dissolved in the water or oxygen must be introduced.
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2
Water can be activated in a particularly effective manner if a gaseous oxygen-
containing medium, for example air, which already contains singlet oxygen is
mixed with the water to be activated by an atomiser. On the other hand,
normal untreated air can also be mixed with the water to be activated and be
atomised and the thus produced aerosol can be brought into contact with an
illuminated photosensitiser in order to produce singlet oxygen.
The production of singlet oxygen is effected in the above described methods by
means of a photosensitiser which is introduced into the gaseous, oxygen-
containing medium, into the water or into the water-air mixture and irradiated
with light. There is thereby meant by the term "light" an electromagnetic
radiation from the ultraviolet range to the infrared range.
The photosensitiser can be attached to a formed piece. It is advantageous if
the
formed piece and the photosensitiser are water-insoluble materials so that the
singlet oxygen can be produced within the water directly in contact with the
water to be activated.
It is favourable for a high production rate of singlet oxygen if the formed
piece
contains a polymer matrix and is for example porous or has a rough surface
since in this way the contact surface between the formed piece and the
dissolved oxygen or the surrounding water is enlarged. For improved
introduction of the exciting light, the matrix of the formed piece can be
transparent. For example, the formed piece can be made of
polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE). Water-insoluble porphyrins, phthalocyanines,
chlorins, tetraphenylporphyrins, benzoporphyrin derivatives, purpurins,
pheophorbides, and the metal complexes thereof, especially copper (II)
phthalocyanine, rose bengal or 5-amino-levulinic acid are suitable as
photosensitiser.
The irradiation of the formed piece can be effected by an artificial light
source
or also directly by means of daylight, i.e. the sun. The formed piece can
thereby contain the light source as an integral element.
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By using a polymer or polymerised monomer matrix, photosensitisers can also
be used which are not able to be coated on the surface of the formed piece but
- instead are attached by the polymer matrix.
The activated water can now be used surprisingly in medicine, chemical
process engineering, food technology, agriculture, printing, painting
technology
and also in cleaning technology.
On the one hand the activated water is suitable as a wetting agent as it
improves the wetting properties of surfaces. Consequently it is suitable as a
supplement or as a solvent itself for coating materials, such as for example
printing inks, paints, varnish in printing and painting technology.
The advantageous wetting properties can also be used for improved wetting of
plants with sprays in agriculture or also for improved contact of cleaning
agents with the objects to be cleaned, activated water being used as a
supplement to or as a solvent of sprays, pouring water or also cleaning
liquids.
Furthermore an improvement was shown in the living and growth conditions of
fish and of other aquatic organisms by means of improving the water quality
when using activated water. This was established for example in coloured
perch (scalar and discus fish). Plant growth is also improved by watering with
activated water.
Further advantageous application areas of activated water are in wetting,
watering, air humidification, in water sterilisation, in therapy of illnesses
and
also in increasing the health and/or the wellbeing of humans, animals and also
plants. Thus illnesses which are for example virally or bacterially induced
and
also fungal attacks can be treated and cured with activated water. Activated
water is particularly suitable for the treatment of infections with herpes
simplex or the fungal yeast candida albicans.
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' Activated water can be used as a therapeutic measure and to increase the
wellbeing and the constitution of living beings. By means of for example air
humidification with activated water in the case of therapeutic treatment of a
- patient, for example by means of chemotherapy, the wellbeing and the
constitution of the patient is improved.
A few application examples of activated water are described subsequently.
There are shown:
Fig. 1 infrared spectra of varying length of activated water;
Fig. 2 the lengths of beans which were watered with normal or activated
water;
Fig. 3 bean plants with varying waterings;
Fig. 4 the weight of seedlings of different plant sorts which have been
watered with normal or activated water;
Fig. 5 the course of a method for degradation of toxic substances;
Fig.6 the toxic substance concentration after a degradation method
according to Fig. 5, and
Fig. 7 the bacterial growth in normal and activated water.
Fig. 1 shows the infrared spectra of water after half an hour, one and a half
or
two and a half hours activation according to the method according to the
invention.
The activation of water is shown clearly in a change of the structure of the
water formed by hydrogen bonds, which is represented in a characteristic
displacement of the vibration bands as in Fig. 1. It can be detected
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immediately that the peak position is displaced with increasing activation
from
approximately 1.91 ~,m via 1.92 ~.m up to 1.94 ~,m. Furthermore, further
shoulders and side bands appear for example at approximately 1.99 ~,m or
2.045 ~.m by means of activation.
Example 1
A patient was treated in whom a herpes simplex infection by the virus HSV 1
was detected. This attack led to a completely white area of attack, the size
of
one's palm, on the right abdomen surface, with blisters filled with liquid.
The
patient complained of pain. The cause of the infection was unknown. It had
already lasted for over seven years, various conventional traditional
therapies
having remained unsuccessful.
A first therapy was carned out with 0.25 1 of activated water to drink daily
and
also daily washing of the infected place with activated water. After three
days,
a clear reddening of the afflicted place was shown, formation of blisters no
longer being able to be detected. The patient was free of pain. After four
weeks
a complete normal skin appearance occurred and the patient has remained to
date completely complaint-free.
Example 2
A thrush fungal infection of the skin on the head caused by candida albicans
was detected in one patient. There was shown an itchy reddened rash with
white flaky places. An infection by skin-body contact during sport was
suspected to be the cause as the patient is an active wrestler. Infections of
this
type occur frequently, for example due to inadequate disinfection of floor
mats,
as is known in the sphere of martial arts. The infection had already lasted
six
months, various conventional therapies remained without success.
There occurred a first therapy with 0.25 1 of activated water for drinking
daily
and also daily washing of the infected place with activated water: After just
three days a clear decrease in the redness of the skin and drying of the
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- pustules was shown. The tingling sensation disappeared. After seven days the
skin on the head was completely normal.
- The patient was reinfected twice after this therapy, the therapy here with
activated water also leading respectively within one week to a complete
healing
of the infections.
Example 3
In a further example, beans were watered with normal and with activated
water. In otherwise identical growth conditions and with an identical period
of
growth it can be detected in Fig. 2 that the beans which were watered with
activated water have a greater tip length and also the average plant size is
increased after the same period of growth. Two plants watered with normal
water (plant 7 and plant 8) died in the course of the experiment but in the
case
of plants watered with activated water there were no losses.
Example 4
Fig. 3 shows the results of a series of tests with bean plants. The first and
third bean plant in the row from the left were watered in a conventional
manner while the second and the fourth bean plant in the row from the left
were watered with activated water. It is shown clearly that the plant growth
of
the second and fourth plant is significantly greater than that of the first
and
third plant. As a result a great improvement was produced in plant growth of
bean plants by means of watering with activated water.
Example 5
300 ml of drinking water were brought into contact with a formed piece. The
formed piece was coated with copper phthalocyanine and provided with an
integral light source. For five minutes air was then made to flow around the
formed piece and it was irradiated.
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In microscopic examination of the drinking water treated thus live bacteria
were no longer found but merely a large number of destroyed bacteria.
Example 6
In a further example, the growth behaviour of various plant seedlings was
determined over the growth period as an increase in weight. Plant seedlings
were thereby compared which were either watered with normal water or with
activated water. From the results in Fig. 4, it can be immediately detected
that
the radish seedlings or the mung bean seedlings, when watered with activated
water, have a distinctly increased growth in comparison to the corresponding
seedlings which were only watered with normal water.
Example 7
In a further example, two otherwise identical water basins were mixed with
organic impurities (urea) and bacterial strains (nitrosomonas, nitrobacter).
These bacterial strains are commonly used for the biological degradation of
toxic substances. In the one basin, the water was not treated further while in
the other basin the water was activated in situ. The degradation of the toxic
substances is thereby effected according to the method illustrated in Fig. 5
(nitrification). First of all decomposition products are thereby produced, by
decomposing inter alia proteins via peptides into amino acids. In further
degradation stages, ammonium, nitrite and nitrate are produced. Bacteria are
thereby involved in all of the degradation steps. The number and the
productivity of these bacteria determines essentially the rate of the
degradation
processes and thus has a great effect on the quantity of nutrient made
available per unit of time for use by the plants.
In Fig. 6 the degradation of urea into a nitrate which is available for plants
is
illustrated according to the diagram according to Fig. S.
The initial high increase in ammonium in the basin with water activation can
be clearly detected. This is verified by the higher productivity of the
bacteria in
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the activated water which are responsible for the conversion of urea into
ammonium.
After a short while, the nitrate content then also increases in this basin to
a
clearly higher level than in the reference basin with non-activated water in
which very soon stagnation of the nitrate content occurs.
The activity of the bacteria which convert ammonium into nitrate then
increases in the basin with activated water to such an extent that the
ammonium production cannot keep up. As a result, the ammonium
concentration sinks again in the basin with activated water.
Example 8
In order to directly demonstrate the accelerated bacterial growth in the
activated water, the integral diffuse dispersion of light on the bacteria was
measured in a further example. The results of the corresponding transmission
measurements are illustrated in Fig. 7. It can be observed here that the
transmission values are in direct ratio to the bacterial concentration. The
reference values which were obtained in a bacterial culture with non-activated
water are constantly smaller than the transmission values of the culture in
which activated water is used. These measured values indicate a clearly higher
bacterial count in the basin with water activation.
Consequently the total result is that, by using activated water, the density
of
bacteria can be increased significantly. A disinfectant effect of activated
water,
in which the bacterial density should be smaller relative to the usage of
normal
water could not be observed in the singlet oxygen production for activation of
water according to the method according to the invention.
