California is dealing with a historic drought, and the Governor has set mandates for water reduction. The City of Berkeley has developed a program to educate managers and staff on methods for reducing water consumption. Aside from some changes to the infrastructure, our basic messaging that is common to all staff is "Think Before You Touch The Tap." We piloted decals that are affixed to the restroom mirrors, instructing people how to properly wash hands with the supplied foaming soap, before running water over their hands (1. Apply soap; 2. Scrub; 3. Rinse). The decal also has a specific number for people to call to report any water leaks.
There has been zero resistance to this methodology, and we have also messaged this with our Health Department, who are in agreement with this, for several reasons: 1. Touching the faucet handle with unclean hands spreads the germs, so waiting until they are soaped up makes more sense from a health standpoint; 2. Pre-wetting the hands creates a film of water on the hands, so the liquid or foaming soap (that's all we have here) doesn't come into direct contact with the skin immediately, and doesn't work into all the creases to remove germs.
We are now waiting for water bills to come in to see how effective this has been. We are also rolling this out at our Corporation Yard, and have had no negative comments or expressed unwillingness to comply for the past month that this has been in place.
Alice La Pierre
City of Berkeley
United States
Dealing With Drought
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Alice, this is great! I'd love to hear more.
Chris Hammer
Consultant
Sustainable Design + Behavior
www.sdplusb.com
I sent this out to my group and immediately got this in response: http://www.cdc.gov/handwashing/show-me-the-science-handwashing.html
Marjorie Isaacson
Elevate Energy
United States
Hello Marjorie,
Please read the CDC guidelines carefully -- note that they clearly reference using a standing basin of water, as opposed to running water. Our staff cannot use a standing basin of water, because none of our commercial sinks have stoppers in them.
Our rationale is that since all of our offices have a scent-free, non-antibacterial liquid (or foaming) soap, that the soap works best when applied to dry hands. Our observations have been that when people pre-wet their hands, the soap tends to slide off almost immediately, because people try and "lather" under the running water. The soap is most effective when applied to dry hands, in our observations. The only downside is, perhaps, that people have to spend an extra 2-3 seconds rinsing it off, because it works into the skin so well.
Some of our staff (non-health department) expressed the same initial questions, but when they tried it, they realized that the soap "stuck" to their hands better, and could break down dirt and oils better, and it was clear that most of the germs would be washed away. Obviously, this is not the same if your facilities have dry bars of soap, but most public restrooms in commercial buildings have moved to some form of liquid or foaming soap.
Our Public Works mechanics have used waterless hand cleaners for years; these are intended to do exactly the same kind of thing, breaking down engine grease and oils, before being washed off. The techniques, and the soaps, have simply been modified for the office environment.
Alice La Pierre
City of Berkeley
United States
I should also mention that we are implementing a replacement program for restroom faucet aerators, to 0.5 GPM from as high as 2.2 GPM. We expect the combination of these two things to reduce water consumption. In 2014, Berkeley municipal buildings, parks and infrastructure reduced water consumption by 26%. The mirror decals for hand washing will continue to help with further reductions, and will be a constant reminder for staff.
Alice La Pierre
City of Berkeley
United States
Hello Alice: Your campaign is spot-on simple and I imagine it will be successful. Because I am an ongoing writer for the Journal AWWA, author of AWWA's Communicating Water's Value,and a keynote speaker, I'm always looking for stories such as yours. So, once the bills go out and you get a feel for its acceptance, would you consider an interview with me?
Melanie Goetz
Sustainable Marketing Strategist
Hughes & Stuart
United States
www.Hughesstuart.com
Please do share the results when they are available!
joe sabel
United States