HERCULANEUM, Mo. — The Dunklin R-5 School district in Herculaneum, Mo. is among hundreds of thousands of school districts across the country working diligently to provide a safe environment for students, teachers and staff to return to this fall. The district serves about 1,500 K-12 students and is welcoming back about 70% of its population for in-person classes. The remaining 30% opted for virtual learning.

Part of their newly established disinfection routine included applying Garland's D7 antimicrobial disinfectant to high contact touchpoints on the exterior of Herculaneum High School and the nearby Taylor Early Childhood Center and its playground. The first application was a trial run of sorts since Dunklin R-5 Superintendent Clint Freeman, like many school administrators across the country, is new to this level of disinfection.

“We wanted to learn about the D7 product and see how it worked before setting up a full-scale application,” Freeman explained. 

D7 is an EPA-registered disinfectant that kills 99.99999% of bacteria, fungi, germs and viruses in minutes and has shown effectiveness against viruses similar to the coronavirus/COVID-19. It can be used on exterior surfaces and applied as a fog or spray inside buildings as well. D7 capitalizes on the natural cleaning power of hydrogen peroxide to penetrate and eliminate pathogenic bacteria, sanitizing down to the molecular level. D7 contains zero VOCs, is biodegradable and can be applied using standard spray equipment.

“Although D7 differs from Garland’s traditional roofing and waterproofing products, we quickly recognized the need to provide our customers with a safe and effective disinfectant that allows schools and businesses to begin safely reopening their doors,” said Brett Wygal, Garland’s operations manager. “D7 is not only highly effective at killing harmful bacteria, but there’s no special equipment or training required so application can take place almost immediately.”

Leak Stoppers Roofing LLC of Festus, Mo. sprayed the initial application of D7. Freeman is exploring additional applications of D7 throughout the district with the help of his local Garland representative, Jeremy Cozart.

“It didn’t leave behind a film or grime. It went on very quickly and foamed up so you can see where you’ve applied it. It was a very good process," Freeman said.

Garland now offers a D7 subscription plan that provides monthly deliveries of D7 materials, an easy, hassle-free way to ensure customers are never without critical disinfection products and to allow for the frequent use of D7 without the need to constantly re-order.