Choosing the right chemical disinfectants for your public restrooms and toilets

It is imperative especially in public washrooms and portable toilets that only efficacious cleaning and disinfectant products are used to clean and sanitise surfaces so as to ensure that germs, harmful bacteria, pathogens and viruses are killed and don’t pose a risk of transmitting disease to your patrons. For this reason, chemical cleaning and sanitation products should be carefully selected to ensure they are up to the task.

We supply a range of market leading washroom hygienic devices, dispensers and their corresponding chemicals and supplies required to keep your public washrooms fresh, clean and inviting. Our comprehensive range of durable personal hygiene products spans the latest portable chemical toilets, portable washbasins, dispensers, toilet bins and all manner of public toilet dispensers and their refills such as wipes, flushable tissues, liquid soap and forced air, hand drying devices. Conventional disposable paper towels are also available from various manufacturers.

Our washroom and personal hygiene products and chemical products are sourced from a wide array of manufacturers, both national and international and are thus available in numerous designs and colours which can be co-ordinated to compliment your design language and colour scheme.

It is important that cleaners and disinfectants are environmentally friendly and do not contain any harmful chemicals that may be hazardous to life and limb. Cleaning chemicals and disinfectants should be non-flammable, biodegradable, ph-balanced and economical to use. They should also require little or no water to be activated or rinsed thus minimising the impact on precious water supply. This is especially valid where ablution facilities are installed and serviced in remote or rural areas or areas without a regular supply of piped water.

Ideally all chemical products should be registered with the South African National Standard (SANS) Institute.  Chemical products should not be corrosive, should not be hazardous to human health and should not require any specialised Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). 

Clients can select from a range of disinfectants including chlorine, alcohol and quaternary based disinfectants.

It is important to choose the correct disinfectant for your application. The following are the most common forms of chemical disinfectants available for use in your public washrooms:

Chlorine Based Disinfectants

Although various chlorine based chemical disinfectants exist, Hypochlorous acid (HOCL) has been proven to be the most effective and is certainly many times more effective than other sodium based dilute solutions, due to its ability to infiltrate microbial cell walls.

Industrial alcohol based cleaners

Blended, industrial grade ethanol (HPE), isopropanol (IPA) and n-propanol (NPA) alcohol based disinfectants can also be supplied. Although alcohol is most commonly employed in the manufacture of sanitary wipes and hand sanitizers, there a number of applications where this type of disinfectant is the preferred choice. Alcohol based disinfectants may be hazardous and flammable, therefore a  higher degree of user safety is required when transporting, storing and using these products.

Quaternary Based Disinfectants

Quaternary ammonium based chemical disinfectants can be powerful and are sometimes employed in disinfectant hand wash sprays, wipes, and other cleaners which are specifically formulated to obliterate jerms and bacteria. These products are especially effective at killing Escherichia coli, a guttural bacteria and Staphylococcus aureus which is the most deadly  form of staphylococcal bacteria. There are however a number of side effects to using these products including that some formulations have been known to irritate human lungs and contribute to asthma. They are also known to cause skin irritations which could result in skin rashes. Long term exposure to quaternary ammonium based chemical disinfectants is suspected to affect the viability of sperm. Another problem related to the use of these products is that residue can remain on surfaces for a long time, increasing exposure to its harmful effects. It is suspected that widespread use of these products in hospital environments has created superbugs that have developed immunity to both these products as well as the most effective modern antibiotics. For this reason, we advise that these products be used judiciously.

The following are commonly used active ingredients in Quaternary ammonium based chemical disinfectant products:

• Benzalkonium chloride
• Benzethonium chloride
• Alkyl dimethyl benzyl ammonium chlorides
• Alkyl dimethyl benzyl ammonium chloride
• Alkyl dimethyl ethylbenzyl ammonium chloride
• Alkyl dimethyl ethylbenzyl ammonium chlorides
• Didecyldimethylammonium chloride
• Dioctyldimethylammonium chloride

Irrespective of the type of disinfectant used, it is important to ensure that your public restrooms or mobile ablution facilities are adequately ventilated at all times.