What Are Touchless Fixtures?
Touchless fixtures are any sort of plumbing fixtures (such as toilets and faucets) that do not require a physical touch in order to use them. Touchless fixtures are becoming increasingly popular for restaurants and businesses in an effort to reduce touchpoints in high traffic areas. These fixtures are often known as “touch-free”, “hands-free”, or “no-touch” fixtures. Hands-free faucets and toilets (flushometers) have a built-in sensor that detects when a user is near and ready to operate the fixture. The sensor tells the fixture when to turn the water supply on and off without any physical touch from the user.
Hands-free faucet
Hands-free faucets are motion-activated and will only dispense water if the user’s hands pass directly in front of the sensor. No more dripping or faucets that run for extended periods of time– saving water and money! Simply place your hands in front of the sensor and wash as usual without having to touch anything. This is particularly helpful in keeping germs and bacteria spread to a minimum. Automatic faucets create one less contamination touchpoint and one less area for a mess. With touchless faucets, your bathroom vanity is kept clean from soapy hands touching faucet controls, which often leads to a pool of water on the vanity and water spots on the faucet itself.
Hands-free Toilets (flushometers)
Toilets in general are a breeding ground for germs, bacteria, and other contaminants. Hands-free or touch-free flush toilets are activated when the user leaves the sensor’s view, causing it to no longer detect a person’s presence. Touchless plumbing has become the standard in businesses such as restaurants, hotels, airports, office spaces, along with other public restrooms. This helps employees and guests greatly reduce their risk for contamination and transfer of germs.
Benefits of Touchless Fixtures
All businesses should consider the installation of touchless fixtures in their facilities! Employees and guests can benefit from the following:
1. Germ Warfare
Germs are everywhere, especially in bathrooms and kitchens! It is easy to forget that whatever germs employees or customers carry on their hands are easily transmitted to any touchpoint, such as door handles, faucets, and toilet handles. The same germs remain on the surface and transfer to every visitor until properly sanitized. By installing touchless bathroom fixtures, you
are doing your part to win the war against germs. The fewer touchpoints employees or customers come in contact with, the better.
2. Environmentally & Budget Friendly
Conservation of water has become an increasingly popular topic as we all have been gearing towards a more environmentally friendly future. One of the biggest advantages of a touchless fixture is its ability to conserve water. With touch-free plumbing fixtures, there is no more risk of a user leaving a faucet on or a toilet handle getting stuck, causing the water to continue flowing. Saving water is an attainable goal for businesses and not only is good for the environment, but it is even better for your wallet!
3. Convenience
Another benefit of a touchless plumbing fixture is that there is no need to turn the faucet on or off, or manually flush a toilet. No need to worry about running faucets or the creative (and potentially destructive) ways people will flush a toilet without using their hands. Another benefit of hands-free fixtures is the accessibility to children. These touchless systems allow for children to not have to struggle to reach a faucet handle that might be difficult to access. A touchless system also means less wear and tear on the components. A traditional faucet with knobs, handles, or levers receive a lot of manual wear and tear from regular use.
4. Easy Maintenance
Cleaning the handles, replacing worn or damaged moving pieces, and replacing the entire fixture can be made much simpler or avoided entirely with the use of touchless fixtures. A touchless faucet has one single piece, versus the three components of a normal faucet consisting of two handles and a spout. Whether it be a large office building, restaurant chain, or hotel, switching to touchless plumbing fixtures can save you time and money. By having an experienced plumber install all the same brands of touchless faucets and toilets, a commercial business can put a standard process around troubleshooting and repairs into place which makes maintenance a breeze.
5. Safety
Caring for family, coworkers, teammates, and customers are of the utmost importance. Safer bathroom and kitchen fixtures can offer that extra help that goes a long way. Fixed temperature settings on hands-free faucets protect from mistakes that could cause burns to more sensitive hands. Touchless fixtures also allow you to easily complete tasks due to the convenience of hands-free activation, such as rinsing a pan under the faucet and having the water automatically shut off when you move that pan out of the sink area. This allows you to safely use both hands and avoid the risk of accidents or injury.
Whether you have questions about hands-free faucets or need help installing one in your home or business, the plumbing professionals at Roto-Rooter Plumbing & Water Cleanup are happy to help. Our goal is to guide you in the right direction that suits your needs. Purchase your hands-free fixtures from anywhere and we will install them for you, ensuring that your plumbing is done right – the first time!
Image by Brett Hondow from Pixabay