My husband and I can never agree on anything when it comes to home decor, which is why our dining room went rug-less for years. We kept telling ourselves it was fine, but the more we used it for game nights and parties and potlucks, the more obvious it became that our inherited chairs were causing some heavy duty wear and tear on our poor floors. Now a rug was essential. So after weeks of debating ("Oriental!" "No, graphic prints!" "That's too expensive!" "That looks too cheap!") we finally purchased one we both loved. Once we rolled it out, we looked at our handiwork and thought, "Okay… now how do we take care of this?"

All of this was in the forefront of my mind when I reached out to Eric Bollmann of Marketing and Client Services at Zerorez carpet cleaning. Why Zerorez? Aside from being part of the Best of Groupon, it's a company that stands out from the pack thanks to two words: Empowered Water.

What is empowered water?

You might be thinking, "What the heck is that?" I know I was curious. Enter Eric to explain: "Zerorez was founded in 2003 with the idea to revolutionize the carpet cleaning world with better science and technology." And that meant turning away from what all the other carpet-cleaning companies were doing to find something better. In short, Empowered Water is simply enhanced water that's been oxidized and infused with electrolytes transforming it into a powerful cleaning solution.

Here's how the process works:

1. Regular tap water is run through a softener that removes heavy metals and other elements that affect the cleaning process.
2. The purified water is then run through a generator that splits the hydrogen atoms apart from the oxygen atoms.
3. Sodium ions are added, which attach to the hydrogen atoms to make hydroxide, a natural cleanser.

It might sound crazy high tech, but Eric assured me, "Both Japan and Russia had been using similar technologies for years and the electrolysis process to create alkaline water was not new. What was and is still new is to apply this to the carpet cleaning industry."

Though that leads to another question: why?

It's not easy being green 

"It is critically important for Zerorez to be truly green," says Eric, and that meant saying goodbye to the harsh chemicals and toxic residue that the other guys use. When I learned that traditional carpet cleaning can leave behind a slurry of soap, water, and dirt that actually acts as a magnet for even more gunk to collect, I could see why Zerorez wanted to reinvent the wheel. Also, that just sounds, well, gross.

Learn more about their process in the video below: