Public Toilet Maintenance

Basic Equipment and Supplies

Different equipment for different joints and corners, as well as different disinfectants, should be used in the cleaning of different sanitary wares and fittings.

Correct Use of Cleaning Agents

Cleaners of public toilets should be trained in the proper usage of specific cleaning, agents and equipment for different types of materials and finishes in the toilets, e.g. tiles, mirrors, stainless steel.

Mechanical Ventilation System

Mechanical ventilation systems should be properly maintained to ensure maximum efficiency and optimal operating conditions. They should be checked and serviced on a monthly basis. Cleaning of the systems should also be done weekly via wiping or dusting.

Training

Toilet cleaners should be properly trained and certified to perform the task well. One such certification is the National Skills Recognition System (NSRS) for cleaning toilets. Supervisors should also be trained with the right knowledge and skills to effectively supervise the cleaners.

Performance-Based Contracts

Toilet operators who engage cleaning contractors for toilet cleaning should specify in their contract a performance-based outcome rather than a headcount-based outcome.

The performance-based contract should also stipulate a requirement for trained cleaners (e.g. NSRS certified).

User Education

Persuading Users to do their Part

Having public education messages in the toilets can help persuade users to do their part in keeping toilets clean. In order to be effective in persuading people to do their part, a message has to be attended to, assimilated and remembered (for future action).

Message Design

People readily attend to visuals. This makes the use of visuals an important part of the design of the message. Generally, visuals should be simple and uncluttered, attractive and eye-catching. The language of public education should be kept simple. This helps ensure that the message reaches all Indians regardless of their educational level. It also ensures that the message is attended to, understood and remembered for future action.

The reading level should not be more advanced than that of a Primary Six reader. Jargons, big words and long sentences should be avoided. Slogans can be very effective because they are short, catchy and easy to remember. Subtle humour can be used to deal with personal and sensitive issues surrounding toilet use. Humour can be successfully tapped through cartoon characterisations of toilet fixtures such as wash basin, toilet bowl and litter bin. An additional benefit of cartoon characters is that they can be used with minimal text, reducing the need for translation to other languages.

Message Placement

The usual means of message placement in public toilets are posters and stickers. To maximise the effectiveness of the message, the right medium and manner of displace should be selected. Generally, stickers should be used if the main purpose of user education is to address specific behavioural concerns such as littering, careless aiming or the flinging of water everywhere, subtlety is preferred. For display, stickers should be made of vinyl material, rather than paper, made with adhesive than can be peeled off without leaving unsightly marks, placed strategically at the spot where the problem behaviour occurs. For e.g.: on the wall above the urinal to encourage better aiming; At the wash basin area to discourage flinging of water everywhere.

Posters can be used to convey generic messages such as “Help Keep This Toilet Clean and Nice”. Posters should only be used when displayed in a way that makes them repellent to water, e.g. laminated on both sides or protected by acrylic sheets or mounted with non-marking adhesives. Adhesives such as scotch tape and double-sided tape may damage certain types of wall surfaces and should therefore be avoided.

More access to phones than toilets: UN

According to Millennium Development Goals India Country Report 2009, “India, one of the most densely populated countries in the world, has the lowest sanitation coverage.” The target is to reduce the proportion of households without access to improved sanitation to 38% by 2015; the proportion of households without any toilet facility declined from about 70% in 1992-93 to about 51% in 2007-08.

Besides, access to toilet facilities in other buildings like health centres, schools and public spaces is lacking all across the country. For girls in particular, the lack of separate toilet facilities in schools has been one of the factors causing dropouts. Though the share of schools with girls’ toilets has been increasing over the years, the progress is still quite slow. DISE (District Information System for Education) data for 2008-09 shows that just a little over half of all schools in India had girls’ toilets. The situation in states like Jharkhand, Bihar and Chhattisgarh, which also lag behind on education indicators, is quite grim. Four in 10 government primary schools do not have separate toilets for girls; and while about 12-15% girls’ toilets are locked, less than half are useable.

Despite all the policy moves, the results on the ground so far leave much to be desired and a United Nations Report in April this year highlighted the fact that far more Indians have access to cell phones than to basic sanitation. The government has missed its target of eradicating the practice of open defecation by 2010 and is looking at reworking its strategy.