Armitage Shanks has launched two ‘innovative healthcare solutions’ designed to help in the fight against infection in healthcare facilities.
The design of the Contour21+ range of clinical ceramics reflects research that showed a high level of splashing occurs when taps run into clinical basins, spreading bacteria and viruses into the air, onto the face, clothing, and the surrounding area. The new basins incorporate HydroFin, ‘an innovative fin’ to the base, which deflects splashing, reportedly reducing it by over 90 per cent. Integral SmartGuard antimicrobial additive technology ‘reduces cross-contamination’, and ‘helps keep surfaces clean and hygienic across their lifetime’, while the ‘ultra-smooth glaze’ of Contour21+’s SmartGuard+ ‘makes it more difficult for bacteria to cling to the surface’.
To combat water pooling in basin wastes, the Contour 21+ basin features a simple waste assembly that ensures that water ‘drains instantly and vertically through a smooth pipe system’. Contour 21+’s outer surfaces feature thinner, more angular rims, steeper slopes, and a smaller back area – to avoid pooling and facilitate cleaning. With mixer taps a potential risk area for growth of waterborne bacteria, the designers of the new Markwik 21+ fittings range focused on reducing the use of materials bacteria can feed upon, cutting the amount of water left in taps after use, and providing more options to cleanse fittings – thermally, or by complete dismantling for disinfection.
Waterways are reduced in size, cutting water left in the tap by 34%. A manual thermal flush feature allows staff to override the thermostat and flush the fitting through with hot water, while an integral thermostat enables water mixing closer to the discharge point. Markwik 21+’s auto-flush technology ensures irregularly used electronic fittings are flushed through every 24 hours, while a ‘hydro-purge’ facility flushes water through the pipework and inlets to ensure a debris-free system after installation.