Going Public

The World Health Organisation recommends that washing hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds is one of the easiest but most effective ways to prevent the spread of viruses and bacteria. However, according to research, 30 per cent of European office workers don’t wash their hands with soap when visiting the washroom and of those that do, 95 per cent don’t use enough soap or water.

Ideal Standard, one of the world’s leading providers of bathroom and washroom products, has launched Intellimix, which is designed to dispense both soap and water with every use. Because the tap is completely touch-free, this guarantees improved hygiene standards in public washrooms, offices, leisure facilities and other high-traffic environments, such as shopping centres, hotels and restaurants, and airports. The idea is for the fitting to significantly lower running costs while being sustainable and reducing waste.

Despite delivering an optimum volume of soap with every wash for improved hygiene, Intellimix actually reduces the overall amount of soap and water typically used in washrooms with traditional fittings, minimising waste and generating cost savings of up to 80 per cent on soap and 85 per cent on water. The system is bluetooth enabled, so offers parameter settings which can be easily controlled by facilities managers via a smartphone. This means they can conveniently change a variety of settings on all taps in a building, including how much soap is dispensed, how long water should flow and how often anti-stagnation flushing should occur. The device also sends notifications when soap is running low to avoid unnecessary physical checks.