Effects of water flow volume on the isolation of bacteria from motion sensor faucets

Abstract

Water outlets for washing hands and medical equipment are essential for preventing hospital infection. The present study clarified the effects of water flow volume on the identification and quantitative evaluation of bacteria found around spouts in the 17 hand-washing stations. Pseu-domonas aeruginosa was detected from 4 sta-tions before adjustment and 2 after adjustment. Although no significant difference was identified in the detection rate of P. aeruginosa (p = 0.368), when combining P. aeruginosa and glucose non-fermentative Gram-negative bacilli (NFB), the number of stations with P. aeruginosa and/or NFB decreased significantly from 15 before adjustment to 9 after adjustment (p = 0.023). Before adjust-ment, quantity of bacteria was “2+” for 3 stations and “1+” for 7 stations, but was “1+” for 3 stations and “2+” for 0 stations after adjustment. These results show that quantity of bacteria could be reduced from spouts by adjusting flow volume. These results were also supported by experiments for cleanliness using Adenosine 5’-triphosphate bioluminescence me- thod.