Inside A Washroom

• A washroom is a room or small building with toilets and sinks that does not belong to a particular household.
• Rather, the toilet is available for use by the general public, customers, travelers, employees of a business, school pupils, prisoners etc.
• Public toilets are commonly separated into male and female facilities, although some are unisex, especially for small or single-occupancy public toilets.
• Public toilets are typically found in many different places: inner-city locations, offices, factories, schools, cinemas, bars, Railway stations, etc.

Alternative Names:

• In American English, “restroom” usually denotes a facility featuring toilets and sinks designed for use by the public.
• In Canadian English, public facilities are frequently called and signed as “washrooms”, although usage varies regionally.
• In Britain, Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore, and New Zealand, the terms in use are “public toilet”, “public lavatory”, “public convenience”,
• In Philippine English, “comfort room”, or “C.R.”, is the most common term in use.

Design:

Parts	Description
Entry	1. Doorless entry: Modern public toilets may be designed with a labyrinth entrance (doorless entry), which prevents the spread of disease that might otherwise occur when coming in contact with a door. 2. Coin operated entry: Pay toilets usually have some form of coin operated turnstile, or they have an attendant who collects the fee.
Handwash Basin	1. Faucets (taps), note some are at a lower level for children and wheelchair users 2. Antiseptic handwash dispenser 3. Mirror (usually over sinks) 4. Paper towel dispenser 5. Garbage can 6. Hand dryer
Sensors	1. Sensor-operated fixtures (faucets, soap dispensers, hand dryers, paper towel dispensers) prevent the spread of disease.
Urinals	1. Urinals for males are common in public toilets as they are more space efficient than toilets. 2. Urinals can be with automatic or manual flushing, or without flush water as is the case for waterless urinals.
Others	1. Vending machines dispensing condoms, diapers (nappies), painkillers, energy drinks, perfume, breath or sanitary napkins. 2. Air fresheners.

Types:

Purposes:

• As an “away-from-home” toilet room, a washroom can provide far more than access to the toilet for urination and defecation.
• People also wash their hands, use the mirrors for grooming, get drinking water (e.g. refilling water bottles).
• Attend to menstrual hygiene needs, and use the waste bins.
• Public toilets may also become places for harassment of others or illegal activities, particularly if principles of Crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED) are not applied in the design of the facility.

Symbols in Unicode for washrooms:

Symbol	Code	Name	Value
	U+1F6B9	MENS SYMBOL	Men’s Toilet
	U+1F6BA	WOMENS SYMBOL	Women’s toilet
	U+1F6BB	RESTROOM	Public toilet or unisex public toilet
	U+1F6BC	BABY SYMBOL	Baby changing station
	U+267F	WHEELCHAIR SYMBOL	Disabled accessible facilities
	U+1F6BD	TOILET	Public toilet

Washroom hygiene:

• Wall hung toilet pans need to be installed with wall duct panel systems. You’ll also notice that because the toilet pan is suspended above the floor, both washroom and cubicles will appear more spacious.
• Sensor activation means users never need to physically touch the tap, significantly reducing the spread of germs and bacteria.
• Passive Infra-Red sensor (PIR) lighting have the advantage of only having the lights on when someone is actually in the room – thus delivering you a great economical saving on electricity.
• Sensor activated hand dryers don’t need to be touched to be operated, but some research suggests that germs can be spread further afield with the air power.
• Paper towels are proven to be the most efficient, and hygienic way to dry wet hands.
• Thorough deep clean process of washrooms at regular intervals is essential. Your daily checks and cleans should also be relatively intense.

Interesting Facts:

• NASA recently spent $23.4 million for designing a suction toilet, which could be used in the International Space Station.
• The Scot Paper Company was the first to manufacture toilet paper on a roll, in 1890.
• Toilet paper is rumored to have been invented in China in the 6th century.
• Chinese have also built public toilets for dogs.