The Deep Impact COVID-19 Will Have on Restroom Design

Now that the vaccination against COVID-19 is finally underway, the whole planet hopes that the virus will subside in 2021 and be eradicated in the following years. However, the world is changed forever, from the rise of online shopping to the way we wash our hands. After COVID, public restrooms will never look the same.

Toilets that sanitize themselves

You can be careful as much as you want but you simply gave to have contact with surfaces in the toilet. Whether it’s flushing the toilet or sitting on the toilet seat, it’s hard to avoid all the germs lingering there.

Sure, some people use a combo of wet wipes and perhaps toilet paper but in the end, you have to touch at least one surface. For this reason, self-cleaning toilets have become popular during the pandemic, especially in Japan, where they have singing toilets as well.

Essentially, once a person leaves the cubicle and closes the door behind them, the toilet sanitizes all the surfaces inside the cubicle. Some of these toilets feature a motion sensor on the toilet lid, further decreasing the chances of an infection.

Exiting the toilet like a boss

Speaking of toilet surfaces you cannot avoid touching, the doorknob first comes to mind. Just imagine how many people have touched the doorknob of a restroom in a shopping center or an airport before the cleaning staff had the chance to sanitize it.

The best way to get rid of this danger is to remove the bathroom door altogether. However, this means that unpleasant smells from the bathroom will spread through a restaurant, for example, which is unacceptable.

The solution to the problem are automatic doors that are activated using a motion sensor. Just like the door on the local supermarket, the bathroom door would open and close as people approach it, obviating the need to touch the handle.

Next-generation soap dispensers

Apart from wearing a protective facemask, washing our hands regularly is one of the surest ways to prevent a COVID-19 infection. However, public restrooms cannot keep soap bars, as this practice would be unsanitary.

Luckily, there are commercial soap dispensers that are fully automated. Just like a self-cleaning toiler or an automated door, the next-generation soap dispenser has a motion sensor inside that automatically dispenses liquid soap when you place open palms underneath it.

Contactless hand dryers

After we are done washing our hands, it’s time to dry them up. Neither cotton nor paper towels are a sanitary-friendly solution for a public restroom. After several people dry their hands, the towel and the towel rack would be crawling with germs.

That is why contactless hand dryers are being installed in toilets worldwide. They operate using a motion sensor, so needn’t touch them to turn them on or off. There are several types of hand dryers but the most efficient are the so-called air blades.

Improved air ventilation

At the onset of the 21st century, air pollution did not go away but it became a global problem. Viruses are roughly the same size as dust particles, so air ventilation is quite important in enclosed spaces, such as restrooms.

If you wish to stop the spread of an airborne virus, then air circulation inside has to be impeccable. Restroom owners are expected to invest in upgrading HVAC ventilation systems, which contain value filters that remove microbes and particulates, making the air less stuffy.

Water taps you needn’t touch to operate

Returning to the topic of washing hands, even if you have access to a brand new bar of soap in a public bathroom, you will have to close the tap at the very end. However, more and more water taps are sensor taps that operate similarly to contactless air dryers and soap dispensers.

Public restrooms won’t be the only places where sensor taps will be installed post-COVID-19. Namely, both clients and contractors will want to install such water taps in new buildings, so sensor taps will become a common sight in residential structures as well.

Hopefully, this water fixture will prevent the appearance of a potential new pandemic. 

As you have seen from our example, the average public restroom will be deeply altered after the coronavirus pandemic is long over. Motion detection is the technology of the future whether we are talking about a soap dispenser or the bathroom door.  

Mike is an Australian business consulting specialist. He’s working with companies that outsource their IT maintenance. He often writes about technology, business and marketing and is a regular contributor on several sites.