Facilities around North America and most parts of the world are taking another look at restrooms, to see not only if they can improve sanitation, user comfort, protect human health, but also reduce the costs to operate. This was happening even before the COVID-19 outbreak. But it has been intensified now that the pandemic has spread far and wide.

You might wonder what we mean by "reduce the costs to operate a restroom." Unlike other rooms in a facility, restrooms do cost money to operate. Further, these are ongoing expenditures.

One cost we probably expect.  Restrooms must be stocked with paper supplies and liners.

But they also must be cleaned, usually every day. Restroom cleaning is one of the most time-consuming jobs in the professional cleaning industry, especially if it is performed manually. When it comes to cleaning, time means money, making restroom cleaning a very-high operating expense.

Fortunately, however, there are ways to reduce restroom operating costs. Among them are the following:

·       Electric hand dryers. If used more than 50 times per day, these can save hundreds of dollars per year, per hand dryer, in paper towel costs. Multiply this by ten or more electric hand dryers in a facility, and this quickly amounts to thousands of dollars that can be saved each year.

·       Sensor controlled faucets. While the savings can vary, it is believed that sensor-controlled water faucets can reduce water bills by as much as 30 percent, if not more, in a larger commercial facility.

·       Waterless urinals. No-water urinals reduce restroom operating costs in several ways. First, each waterless urinal saves 35,000 gallons of water annually. This reduces the amount of water businesses must pay to have delivered and then removed from a facility. Additional savings come because waterless urinals tend to be less costly to purchase, to install, to clean, and in schools, bars, and restaurants specifically, less expensive to service and repair when compared to water-using urinals.

·       Anti-graffiti walls. In the past, if graffiti is found on walls and partitions, businesses have two choices: clean the problem areas and repaint, if on a partition, replace the partition. Both costly. However, new wall and partition coverings have been developed that make it quite easy to remove graffiti with just water and a mild detergent. Further, no repainting is needed.   

We also mentioned, businesses want to improve restroom sanitation, comfort, and health. One way this is happening is by improving ventilation in restrooms. We know the germs that cause COVID can be found on surfaces and, if so, be touched and transmitted to our face or food, spreading the disease. However, in most cases, it is spread because of airborne, aerosol droplets passing from one person to another.  

What we are finding best eliminates this problem is not necessarily more ventilation in restrooms, but more air removal in restrooms. This helps sweep the airborne droplets out of the restroom, preventing them from being inhaled.

Another way to help prevent the spread of the infection, improve sanitation and health, is the installation of "smart toilets." No, these do not necessarily save water. What they do is make sure the lid – removed years ago on most restroom toilets – is down before the toilet flushes. This will prevent toilet plume, the mist that is released when toilets are flushed. Studies have found that traces of the virus have been found in this plume. The lid, in the down position, will help prevent the plume from escaping the toilet.

We can expect more changes to restrooms in the future, some already planned, others resulting from the virus. The goal is to make them more "efficient." An efficient restroom costs less to operate, promotes comfort and safety, saves water, and protects health.

For more information on how to reduce water consumption, waterless urinals, and to use water more efficiently, contact a Waterless Co Specialist