Landmark ruling by the Stuttgart Regional Court: The advertising claims by Tennant regarding its “”ec-H2O technology” have been pronounced misleading. One of the manufacturer’s claims had been that scrubber driers equipped with this technology used water which was electrically “activated” and were able to dispense with the use of chemical cleaning agents to clean floors. In fact, “activated” water is no more effective than tap water. The ruling was pronounced against the German subsidiary of the American Tennant Company, Tennant GmbH & Co. KG in Kirchheim/Teck. Tennant will now be required to shoulder the costs of the legal dispute, although it may still appeal against the ruling.
After carrying out its own practical tests, Kärcher commissioned an expert opinion from the renowned scientific institute MicroMol in Karlsruhe, Germany. All the investigations came to the same conclusion – as did the independent expert witness Thomas Hofmann (Zurich University of Applied Sciences) appointed by the Regional Court: that Tennant’s advertising claims relating to the process technology of “activated” water are scientifically untenable. The fact that some users believe they are still able to detect a certain cleaning effect despite changing over to tenside-free cleaning can be simply explained, in the experience of expert witness Thomas Hofmann: Even after changing over to cleaning without tensides, as a result of “frequent poorly metered (excessive) application” of cleaning agents during previous cleaning processes, tensides still continue to be given off from the porous floor structure for around six months. To start with, this gradual degradation process frequently results in an improved appearance. However, once the material deposits are finally used up, the dirt build-up begins to increase again.
The following statements have been assessed by the Regional Court as misleading:
• ec-H2O technology – Activates water to perform like a powerful detergent
• ec-H2O – Makes its own powerful cleaner
• ec-H2O cuts costs because there is no need to buy a universal detergent for scrubber-driers
• ec-H2O is a “proven technology”
The Regional Court ruled that it is indisputable that dirt caused by substances containing mineral oil cannot be removed using scrubber driers equipped with ec-H2O technology.
In its written statement of reasons for the ruling, the Court accepted the conclusion of the evidence heard: “…that the cleaning effect of water treated using ec-H2O technology is no better than that of pure tap water, and in particular is in no way comparable to that of a strong or powerful cleaning agent or all-purpose cleaning agent.”
“We very much welcome the decision of the Court to accept the scientific arguments put forward by the court-appointed expert witness”, says Markus Asch, Vice Chairman of the Kärcher Group Board of Management. “With this ruling, the industry has practised the best form of self-regulation in the interests of consumer protection.” Other competitors and industry associations had joined Kärcher in publicly disputing the effectiveness of ec-H2O, and had also performed scientific studies and practical testing.
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