Melbourne biotech eWater Systems declares insolvency

A Melbourne business that took out a top award for its chemical-free cleaning products has gone bust as Covid ravages its customer base.

A Melbourne biotech business whose chemical-free cleaning systems saw it take out the top gong at the Premier’s Sustainability Awards has gone bust as Covid savages one of its key customer bases.

eWater Systems, whose innovative “water splitting” sanitising technology has been adopted by hospitals, schools and leading restaurants including Rockpool, Stokehouse and Brae, placed itself into voluntary administration earlier this month.

The potential loss of the innovative Victorian company comes as the state’s business community licks its wounds from a fourth lockdown, which was endured without JobKeeper.

Credit reporting agency CreditorWatch has warned that tens of thousands of Victorian businesses risk collapse as signs of stress, such as a spike in missed bill payments, emerge.

eWater Systems won the highest honour at the Premier’s Sustainability Awards in 2017.

eWater supplies wall-mounted electrolysis units that run an electrical current through a solution of tap water and high-grade salt to produce a range of chemical free cleaning products.

The technology produces commercial grade disinfectants and other cleaning products that clean without the use of traditional chemicals.

Major customers include St Vincent’s Hospital, Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, Taronga Zoo and hospitality group Merivale Group owned by Justin Hemmes.

The company was awarded the coveted Premier’s Recognition Award at the 2017 Victorian Premier’s Sustainability Awards.

It was also a finalist in the 2020 Banksia Foundation Awards, the nation’s longest-running sustainability awards program.

Restaurateur Neil Perry uses the eWater system at his Rockpool restaurants.

Hamilton Murphy director Richard Rohrt was appointed administrator to eWater last week. A first meeting of creditors has been called for later in the month while the amount of money owed is not yet known.

eWater and Hamilton Murphy did not respond to questions from the Herald Sun.

Calls to eWater’s head office went unanswered on Tuesday although the company did update its Facebooks page as recently as Monday.

eWater was founded by Phil Gregory in 2006.

Its advisory board includes banking veteran Brett Lazarides, a former infrastructure investment head at Perpetual and UniSuper, and Melbourne University nursing research professor Nick Santamaria.

In August Mr Gregory told The Australian that Covid had dramatically hurt the company’s cashflow as restaurants closed their doors and tightened their spending.

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