FAQs - Sanitaire Bio-Products

Odour associated with washrooms and urinals

1) Our washroom has a persistent bad odour. We have tried everything to get rid of the smell. And nothing works.

It is a common belief that odours in washrooms come from urinals, toilet bowls or drains. Most odours however come from surfaces such as walls and floors contaminated with ingrained organic waste such as uric scale that has not been cleaned with the right products.

Bio-Cleaning solutions such as Biological Washroom Cleaner deliver a 100% result in eliminating odours, and can be used on all surfaces except mirrors.

Using a Bio-Cleaning approach is a natural cleaning regime that works 24-hrs a day. This approach uses similar processes to the probiotic bacteria we take to replenish the essential bacteria our bodies need to maintain good inner health.

Bio-Cleaning is an essential part of water saving and chemical reduction in all cleaning programs that seek to eradicate persistent washroom odour problems.

The Bio-Cleaning solution is used with plain water.

Biological Washroom Cleaner can be used on:

walls
floors
toilet bowls
cubicle walls
basins
floor & basin drains

For maximum effectiveness, use Biological Washroom Cleaner in combination with:

BioMAT
BioCAP
BioScreen
Biological Washroom Cleaner
Drain Solution

2) We’ve got waterless urinals and regret it because they have a lingering bad odour. Should we replace them with flushing urinals?

Most waterless urinal systems have been installed without awareness of all the consequences, such as:

blocked pipes due to a need for regular maintenance flushing,
smelly urinals due to 100% dry surfaces,
overuse of perfumed masking agents,
lack of a co-ordinated system maintenance by cleaners, washroom services and plumbers,
unpleasant environment,
higher than expected running costs, and
in some instances, having to replace the waterless system unnecessarily.

A holistic solution incorporates the following elements:

Carefully considered cleaning processes
Implementation of the correct products
Tailored washroom services
Scheduled preventative maintenance

The solution:

Use Bio-Cleaning solutions to clean the surfaces and dose the drains
Ensure pipes have a maintenance flush several times daily
Ensure there is a thorough periodic service which incorporates testing, cleaning, dosing, and reporting

The benefits of a Bio-Cleaning approach to addressing issues with waterless urinal systems are:

comprehensive odour management,
extending the life of component parts,
reducing the incidences of pipe blockages, and
maintaining high cleaning standards.

For maximum effectiveness, use in combination with:

BioMAT
BioCAPs
BioScreen
Drain Solution

3) We have a manual flush urinal and the guys don’t flush it which means you can smell it from the lunch room. We are thinking of installing a sensor-flush urinal. Should we?

The solution:

Use Bio-Cleaning solutions to clean the surfaces and dose the drains
Ensure pipes have a maintenance flush several times daily
Ensure there is a thorough periodic service which incorporates testing, cleaning, dosing, and reporting

The benefits of a Bio-Cleaning approach to addressing issues with waterless urinal systems are:

comprehensive odour management,
extending the life of component parts,
reducing the incidences of pipe blockages, and
maintaining high cleaning standards.

For maximum effectiveness, use in combination with:

BioMAT
BioCAPs
BioScreen
Drain Solution

4) We’ve been using a disinfectant-based cleaner in the washroom to try and get rid of the lingering odour but the problem has not gone away.

Disinfectant-based, and most other chemical cleaning products are both temporary in their efficacy, and potentially harmful to the health of humans and natural environments. And therein lies the problem: Because of its brief effectiveness, odour-causing bacteria can take hold as soon as the surface is re-contaminated with urine and other organic waste.

While disinfectant-based chemicals smell ‘clean’ initially, their action is short-lived and only contributes to other unintended problems such as the build-up of uric scale in drains and pipes, and sticky surfaces.

Only a holistic biological cleaning solution will get rid of the odour straight away, add a protective layer to surfaces where organic waste tends to build up, and condition drains and pipes in a sustained manner.

5) We want to save water in the washroom but we’re not sure where to start.

For many, the most obvious solution, and the one that building designers usually gravitate towards is the installation of waterless urinals. Another hasty response is to install sensor flush urinals. While this may appear to be the environmentally responsible solution, the result is often smelly urinals and blocked drains.

Essentially, there is no truly waterless urinal system because all urinals, irrespective of the fact that they are marketed as water wise, require a daily maintenance flush to wash away waste build-up on surfaces that is the source of odour-producing bacteria, as well as a daily purge to wash away the any uric scale that have started to build up in the pipes.

Biological cleaning solutions on the other hand have proven to reduced water usage quantifiably. This happens because the specially selected friendly pathogens in the formulations both serve to coat surfaces, and to condition pipes, requiring less water necessary to sustain the breakdown of waste. Moreover, the friendly organisms also continues to produce enzymes in the presence of waste, thus sustain the cleaning action long after regular chemical cleaners have stopped working.

6) Are all urinal blocks the same?

All urinal blocks are not the same. This is because they all have a different chemical makeup and a distinct action. Biological urinal blocks have been specially formulated to reduce odour problems and blockages in urinals. New strains of bacteria have been introduced to the biological and enzymatic cleaning efficacy to remove fats, uric-scale and solids that build up in urinal traps and pipe work, causing odours and blockages. Citrus perfumed and water soluble, biological urinal blocks efficiently eradicate the source of this problem, providing substantial savings on both washroom maintenance and water bills, as the need for constant flushing and more regular cleaning is reduced.

Biological urinal blocks are different from all other urinal blocks because they are:

biodegradable,
removes the real cause of odours,
are suitable for all types of urinals and troughs including stainless steel, porcelain and ceramic,
prevents blocked traps and pipes,
can save on water bills,
contains odour neutralising perfume,
cleans and freshens, and

safer to use and not harmful under COSHH.