Facility Management Tips For Touch-Free Plumbing Fixtures
Touch-free plumbing features have increased in popularity in recent years. Bathrooms are notoriously germy, featuring up to about 20,000 pathogens per ten square centimeters. These germs may not lurk where you think, either -- sink handles alone can hold a staggering 600 times the germ load of a toilet handle. The fewer surfaces anyone needs to touch in there, the better. Touch-free fixtures protect users by giving them the ability to operate taps, soap, hand driers, and more without having to physically come in contact with them.
The Benefits of Touch-Free Fixtures
In addition to protecting users from getting bacteria, fungi, and viruses on their hands, touchless bathroom fixtures have some additional benefits. Sensors are smaller and less obtrusive than traditional fixtures. This might not be a big deal for a soap dispenser, for example, but can make a difference when you're talking about toilet handles or sink taps.
Less obtrusive fixtures mean fewer nooks and crannies where germs can hide. A small, flat sensor is much easier to clean around and properly disinfect than a bulky knob. Touch-free sensors also help cut down on waste. Infrared sink sensors only allow water to flow when hands are directly under the faucet, rather than wasting water for the time it takes to turn the faucet on and off manually. This might not seem like much, but a dripping faucet can waste hundreds of gallons of water every month. Imagine how much gets wasted by conventional taps in high-traffic restrooms! Touchless fixtures also have an aesthetic benefit. They can make a bathroom look cleaner and more modern, which impacts the perception of the people using it.
If a bathroom looks cleaner, people generally feel more comfortable and confident about using it. Piggybacking on this, touchless faucets can also contribute to general occupant health. If people don't feel comfortable using a sink, they may choose to just use hand sanitizer or even skip cleaning up entirely. While hand sanitizer is fine in an emergency, it's not a substitute for soap and water. Touch-free fixtures encourage better hygiene, which leads to fewer germs spread by hands.
Retrofitting Older Restrooms
Say you're convinced of the benefits of touch-free fixtures but are working with a dated restroom. What do you do now? Will you have to gut the entire place and rebuild? The good news is, it's completely possible to retrofit an older bathroom with touchless tech. Here's how:
1. Come up with a goal.
What is the most appropriate solution for your facility? Do you want to go completely touch-free, or just install some sink sensors to cut down on water waste and encourage hand washing? Once you know what your ideal facility restroom looks like, you can start taking the steps to achieve it.
2. Get acquainted with your current plumbing.
What kind of fixtures do you already have? How do your faucets mount, on the wall or the counter? Do they need three holes, or one? It's time to get to know the specs of all of the fixtures you want to replace. This will make it a lot easier and less expensive to do so.
3. Determine your most used restrooms.
If cost is an issue, you may wish to avoid having to retrofit all of your restrooms at once. Figure out which one gets the most use since this is also the one likely to benefit the most from touchless fixtures. Focus your efforts there first.
4. Contact your manufacturers.
Plumbing fixtures can be finicky, and not just from a technical standpoint. Colors can differ from manufacturer to manufacturer, disrupting the look of your restroom. You might want to start by contacting the manufacturer of your existing fixtures and see if they offer any touch-free options. If they do, these options will likely be easier to swap out for the ones you already have. They may even be able to help you retrofit your existing fixtures without having to replace them. If they don't, it's time to shop around.
Take the specs of your existing fixtures and see what's available. You'll also want to pay attention to things like the ease of installation -- if your fixtures take hours to put in, your facility's restrooms could be out of commission for a while. If you're using a facility management software platform that allows it, you may also want to ensure that your touchless fixtures are compatible and can be integrated into the interface you use for everything else. Beyond just detecting the presence of a user, some modern fixtures also allow you to control the water's flow rate, temperature, and more.
Restrooms with touch-free plumbing fixtures are cleaner, sleeker, more efficient, and easier to maintain than those without. If you're currently working with a facility with older plumbing, you don't have to miss out. You can easily retrofit your existing restrooms with infrared sensors or motion detectors as long as you follow a few simple steps.
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