Family Rental Lease Obtains Patent for Disaster-Resilient 'Ocean Loop System' Laundry Water Recycling Technology

Family Rental Lease Co., Ltd. (Hachioji City, Tokyo), a specialist in coin-operated laundry facilities, has announced the acquisition of a patent for the 'Ocean Loop System' (OLS), a laundry water recycling system capable of continuous operation during disasters.

Through its laundry volunteer support activities during the Noto Peninsula Earthquake, the company witnessed how the inability to wash clothes severely impacts hygiene and living conditions in disaster areas. Even with laundry equipment available, operations cannot continue without a water supply. Based on this experience, and driven by the concept of 'never stopping laundry during disasters,' the company redesigned the laundry infrastructure itself to develop OLS.

[Patent Information] Patent Number: 7854757 This patent covers a laundry water recycling system that maintains and manages water quality suitable for laundry use by circulating and reusing self-developed laundry water.

[Key Features of OLS Patent Technology] OLS utilizes 'Jusan-sui,' a laundry water exclusively for coin laundries co-developed with a detergent company, which is circulated and reused. The system manages quality through filtration, sterilization, and monitoring for reuse. It is designed for a daily processing capacity of up to 24 tons.

[Public-Private Partnership Operation Model] Utilizing fiscal measures such as emergency disaster prevention and mitigation bonds, the company envisions a model where facilities function as local laundromats during normal times and as sanitation infrastructure for evacuation shelters during disasters.