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Utilizing the Sanuvox UVC BiowallTM for the Prevention of Powdery Mildew

Powdery Mildew is one of the most

widespread and common plant

diseases. It effects a wide group of

plants, trees and shrubs including

apples, beans, wheat, grapes,

strawberries and Cannabis to name a

few. It’s easily recognizable due to

the grayish or white powdery

blotches on leaves. Extensive losses

in plant growth and crop yield occur

annually due to the infestation of

Powdery Mildew. Indoor Cannabis

growers are especially susceptible to the infection as spores infiltrate the facility and continually infect the

Cannabis Buds causing a stunting of growth, distortion of quality, a reduction of terpenes and degraded product

that must be discarded. Powdery Mildew is costing the indoor Cannabis growing industry hundreds of thousands

of dollars annually in discarded product.

Sanuvox has received multiple inquiries from Indoor Cannabis growers concerned with the high magnitude of

Powdery Mildew and Botrytis infections. As the regulations clamp down on pesticide use, many growers are

looking for a green, non-toxic, non-residue, chemical free solution to treat and prevent Powdery Mildew and

Botrytis. The Sanuvox engineering and lab team knew we could assist the indoor Cannabis Grower with our 21

year history of UVC airborne spores and contaminated surface disinfection experience. UVC or Ultraviolet C

Germicidal wavelength is lethal to all micro-organisms including Powdery Mildew and Botrytis. This technology

has been used for over 100 years in the water treatment industry and over 40 years in the air treatment industry

as a leading method of micro-organism contaminant disinfection.

During our research and trials, we’ve seen germicidal UVC utilized in many different methods to combat Powdery

Mildew. Early on, Sanuvox tested the method of irradiating the Cannabis leaf surface to kill the visible powdery

mildew spores with limited success. Not only was this method extremely time consuming for the grower, but the

powdery mildew would re-emerge 12 hours later. This is because the visible Powdery Mildew molds were already

rooted deep within the bud and regrowth happens very rapidly. The next method Sanuvox tested was to utilize

small portable air treatment units that had low CFM (cubic feet per minute airflow) and only processed the air

once every 2 days. This was found to be ineffective as well as the level of spores within the facility quickly

outpaced the level of disinfection removal.

January 1, 2017

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Our engineering team achieved a breakthrough and discovered that the best method to defeat Powdery Mildew

was one of prevention. It was best to not wait until the Powdery Mildew infection showed up visually before

applying a treatment method. The best method of prevention is to continuously kill the spores through high

dosages of germicidal UVC Air Disinfection and at a very high frequency each hour. This approach continuously

keeps the Powdery Mildew spore levels low enough for the plant to defend itself naturally.

Sanuvox has developed and patented a germicidal UVC Air Disinfection sizing system to determine the precise

UVC dosage, performance, and product size based on an individual grower’s facility specifications. We do not

believe in any magic rule of thumbs for the prevention of Powdery Mildew.

For proper sizing and performance, Sanuvox engineering requests the following information:

1) Tonnage of HVAC System

2) Dimensional layouts of Supply and Return Duct for proper installation point

3) Cubic Feet of Room to be treated

4) Temperature and Humidity levels maintained in room to be treated

5) Number of plants currently effected by Powdery Mildew and Botrytis

6) MERV rating of filtration currently used and time cycle of replacement

The optimum installation point of the UVC BiowallTM system is the return or supply duct of the HVAC system.

Similar to a firewall, Sanuvox disinfects the air within the ductwork with its patented BiowallTM units. By delivering

very high dosages of germicidal UVC as well as achieving 8-12 air changes per hour, our system continuously

achieves over a 96% disinfection rate of Powdery Mildew within the grow space every hour.

Applying this technology resulted in a success story in

Colorado with Organic Alternatives. Their facility is

6,000 sq. feet with 4 Flower Rooms that have been

burdened intermittently with Powdery Mildew.

Sanuvox began installation with Flower Room B as it

was their most problematic room for Powdery Mildew

and Botrytis outbreaks.

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Flower Room B is approximately 1,200 sq. feet with 14 foot ceilings. Three 5 ton units operate in this room

equating to an estimated 6,000 cfm and an air change every 2.8 minutes. 21.4 air changes per hour can be

achieved in Flower Room B. Temperature of 75 degree F and Humidity of 30% are maintained in Flower Room B.

There are 44 Gavita lamps of 1kW each operating in Flower Room B.

The three 5 Ton HVAC systems within Flower Room B are each 2,000 cfm with return duct dimensions of 32”x14”,

operating with 1” MERV 8 filtration changed monthly. Based on above parameters and a return duct installation

point, Sanuvox recommended a 24” BiowallTM UVC Air Disinfection system be installed in each 5 ton HVAC system

within Flower Room B. Sanuvox's proprietary UVC performance and sizing software estimated this grower would

achieve a 99.8% average disinfection of Powdery Mildew after only 8 air changes. With three 5 ton HVAC systems

and 16,800 cubic volume of air in Flower Room B, 8 air changes were achieved every 22.4 minutes. Every hour

the BiowallTM system was operating, Flower Room B achieved 21.4 air changes corresponding to an estimated

99.9% disinfection of Powdery Mildew per hour in Flower Room B.

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Due to space constraints the BiowallTM system was installed in the return duct and was turned off during the dark

growing cycle, maintaining a runtime of only 12 hours a day. With only 12 hours of runtime, the following results

were achieved below during the first Post UV harvest.

Flower Room B – Before and After Sanuvox BiowallTM UVC install (BiowallTMs operated 12 hours a day)

Before UV After UV

No. of Plants in Flower Room B – 60 days in room total 200 200

Plants detected with Powdery Mildew 35 6

Plants detected with Botrytis 10 1

Passing Mold CFU test consistently NO YES

lbs. of infected product discarded 6 lbs. 1.5 lbs.

Additional Benefits achieved:

1. 90% reduction in utilizing organic fungicides in Flower Room B (before BiowallTM UVC, this was the primary

method of controlling Powdery Mildew and Botrytis).

2. Reduction of labor costs associated with spraying

3. Visually thicker Terpene oils

4. Consistent passing of State of Colorado required Mold CFU tests with lower total Mold and Yeast counts

This grower is vertically integrated and owns a dispensary. The retail selling price at the time of this study was

$300-$500 per ounce i.e. $4,800-$8,000 per pound of quality Cannabis product. Prior to the installation of the

Sanuvox BiowallTM UVC system, this grower consistently discarded almost 6 lbs. of product per harvest in Flower

Room B that had been infected with Powdery Mildew and/or Botrytis. During the first Post UVC harvest in Flower

Room B, the grower was reduced to only discarding 1.5 lbs. of product. Considering an average of $6,400 per

pound, the 4.5 lbs. of product saved, brought in over $28,800 worth of income to the grower. Based on the

investment of the BiowallTM system for Flower Room B, the savings of the first harvest alone delivered a 300%

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return on investment. We realize the pricing fluctuates and we will determine ROI at time of install moving

forward.

Additional goals for the grower include operating the BiowallTM UVC system 24 hours a day to drop the infection

rate lower than 4 plants per harvest. Secondly, the remaining three flower rooms, Veg rooms and drying room

will be equipped with Sanuvox UVC systems to further prevent Powdery Mildew and Botrytis infections

throughout the entire facility.

Powdery Mildew can be a tough and constant battle for indoor cannabis growers. Sanuvox believes we have

pioneered a reliable, green, non-toxic, chemical free, non-residue and preventative approach to battling the

common Powdery Mildew and Botrytis spores that can damage the quality and quantity of your Cannabis harvest.

For further information, please contact Sanuvox Technologies at 888-726-8869, info@sanuvox.com or

www.sanuvox.com