It’s the time of year for schools to start welcoming back students and staff. While guidelines are always changing, one constant concern is the importance of handwashing and proper hygiene. As the preferred choice of schools for more than 100 years, Chicago Faucets is committed to helping building engineers equip their schools for the safe return of students each and every year.
Building Engineers, let’s take a quick mental safety audit of your facility.
Does your facility promote appropriate hygiene practices?
If you’re answer is a definite “yes!” – Keep up the good work.
If you’re answer is “no” or “I’m not sure,” Chicago Faucets is ready to help.
You can improve your facility’s hygiene practices in three ways:
1. Promote Good Hand Hygiene
Encourage your employees and students to follow the number one preventative measure to avoid the spread of germs: frequent hand washing.
To promote good hand hygiene, post signs to encourage frequent handwashing across your campuses. These printable posters and signs from the CDC make it easy to encourage students, staff, and visitors to practice proper handwashing.
2. Ensure Your Water Supply is Safe Before Students and Staff Return
If your campus has been closed for more than two weeks, you’ll want to double-check that your facility’s water supply is safe.
When a facility’s water isn’t used for a long period of time, water left standing in supply lines or fixtures can harbor bacteria, which can include Legionella (the cause of Legionnaires’ disease) and mold. Unused water lines and equipment may also contain heavy metals, nitrates, and possible chemical residue from prior chemical flushes. Here are steps your school can take for water maintenance safety:
• Flush plumbing lines
• Develop a risk assessment and water management plan that includes current best practices
• Create a reopening plan that includes cleaning, draining or disinfecting all equipment
• Consult with an experienced water treatment advisor
• In major metropolitan areas, contact your water supplier to schedule water system flushes to avoid conflicts with other local organizations
• Upgrade to touchless or metered faucets
3. Install Faucets that are Recommended for Schools
According to experienced school maintenance managers, Chicago Faucets is the preferred choice for schools. For more than 100 years we've provided durable, high-quality faucets, bottle fillers, and shower systems to K-12 schools, colleges, and universities. We’re proud to make products that are built to last in high-use environments.
For high-use environments like school restrooms and kitchens, the best faucet options for promoting hygiene and reducing the spread of viruses and germs are touchless and metering.
Touchless Faucets
Touchless faucets allow students and faculty to wash their hands without ever touching the faucet. This option is ideal for preventing the spread of germs.
EVR Series
• higher and longer spout reach
• vandal-resistant outlet
• ASSE 1070 certified scald protection
• Economic applications
• Above-deck installation
• Hygiene flush mode
• Heavy duty applications
• Above-deck installation
• Hygiene flush mode
Metering Faucets
Metering faucets allow students and faculty to turn on faucets with a single touch and wash their hands with a predetermined amount of water. The water will automatically shut itself off—just-washed hands won't have to touch a contaminated faucet handle to turn it off. This is a good option for preventing the spread of germs.
• Heavy duty applications
• Built-in user temperature control
• Long reach spout
• Commercial with looks
• Internal and external mixing options
• Single, 4" and 8" solutions
• Heavy duty applications
• Similar to 3600 with a single supply for tempered water
• One-touch metering
• Water savings
• Durable design
• Compact
• Durable
• Single, 4" and 8" solutions
Convert Manual Faucets to Metering Faucets
Many manual Chicago Faucets can easily be retrofitted to become metering faucets. Contact us to explore your options. Our expert team can guide you through retrofitting your manual faucets.
Which Chicago Faucet is Right For You?
With so many options for low- and no-touch faucets, it can be hard to know which one is the right option for your facility. We’re here to help you understand your options and make the best selection for your school. Chicago Faucets is here to help you select the right solutions for your facilities and to offer our unparalleled support.
Click here to meet with an Expert.
You can also locate a nearby distributor or talk to your local sales rep.