The application of ammonia and hydrogen sulfide gas sensors in smart public toilets.
With the continuous acceleration of China’s urbanization construction and the improvement of people’s living standards, the intelligence of urban public facilities has become an important symbol of “smart city” construction. People’s environmental requirements for public toilets are also increasing. Nowadays, most public toilets are designed relatively reasonably, and some of them are even equipped with hand soap, hand dryers, paper towels, etc., making public toilets more user-friendly in design, and even observing people’s toilet habits. Public toilets, as modern urban public places, have become an important symbol of modern urban construction with clean surrounding environments and fresh air inside the toilets. The design standard of public toilets has a very significant impact on the urban appearance.
Traditional public toilets used to be an area that everyone didn’t want to mention. Due to insufficient personnel management, traditional public toilets often have a strong odor. Public toilet odors are toxic gases composed of harmful substances such as ammonia, hydrogen sulfide, methyl mercaptan, ethylamine, and indole. They can cause respiratory symptoms such as irritation and suffocation, and can even cause memory loss, neurological disorders, and autonomic disorders. In addition, symptoms transmitted through gases include tuberculosis, SARS, influenza, common colds, measles, etc.
However, with “odor sensors” (ammonia and hydrogen sulfide gas sensors) installed in “traditional public toilets,” a new air system can be triggered through the detection and sensing linkage of gas sensors. When the odor in the toilet is strong, the sensor sends a signal to open the exhaust fan, improving indoor air quality. The “traditional public toilet” is upgraded in one second! The whole house odors can be eliminated!
Currently, various regions have successively implemented smart public toilet ammonia and hydrogen sulfide gas detection solutions to achieve the excellent combination of toilet management and intelligent technology.
To improve the level of public toilet management, construct modern smart toilets in the new city, build “smart cities,” and achieve intelligent remote management of public toilets’ flow monitoring, odor detection, temperature and humidity detection, inflow detection, squatting detection, and automatic deodorization. IoT technology has been adopted to achieve the excellent combination of environmental health management and intelligent technology in sanitation and public toilet management. “Smart public toilets” can eliminate unpleasant odors and provide scientific and reasonable management methods for the environmental hygiene of public toilets, making the sanitation and public toilet management business of cities more efficient, intelligent, and orderly.
The system sets alarm values for ammonia, hydrogen sulfide, carbon dioxide, temperature, and humidity inside the public toilet. Sensors are also installed in both men’s and women’s restrooms. Once a parameter exceeds the set limit, the system will automatically ventilate and deodorize. Specifically, the odor monitoring system’s probe can detect the concentration of odorous substances in the toilet, such as the ammonia sensor, which can detect the concentration of ammonia in the public toilet. Once the concentration exceeds the set standard, the equipment will automatically activate the deodorization and the corresponding gear according to its concentration value.
It is worth mentioning that an infrared sensor is installed on the lock and above the door of each restroom, and when the user locks the door from the inside, the screen outside displays that the restroom is in use. “Smart toilets also monitor the toilet time, and if the toilet time exceeds 15 minutes, it will automatically sound an alarm to remind the public toilet administrator to check to avoid accidents that may occur when no one is monitoring.”
In addition, people can also use a smartphone app or a code-scanning program in three steps to access real-time information on restroom occupancy and air quality. For poorly maintained restrooms, people can provide feedback and complaint information, timely discover issues, and facilitate improvements. This construction model can be directly promoted on existing public restrooms, without the need for a complete rebuild. Carbon dioxide sensors and temperature and humidity transmitters are placed in several locations of the newly constructed public restrooms, which can sense real-time data on air quality and temperature and humidity, reminding the cleaning staff to keep the restroom clean or to adjust the air-conditioning temperature and humidity.
By comprehensively monitoring various environmental factors in public toilets, the air can remain fresh and the restrooms hygienic. High-precision gas sensors can be used to accurately monitor data such as ammonia, hydrogen sulfide, temperature, and humidity in public restrooms. When excess values are detected, an alarm can prompt cleaning staff to maintain cleanliness and provide the public with a comfortable restroom environment. Public restrooms are a basic infrastructure of urban public services, and intelligent, clean restrooms directly affect the comfort of the city.
The application of smart public restrooms not only improves the public service experience and consumer experience quality, but also enhances the civility, reputation, energy conservation, and environmental protection of cities. It can also potentially drive economic development by saving water and electricity resources. Nowadays, society has higher requirements for public restrooms, reflecting the importance of environmental protection and public health to the whole population. The public health and environmental protection industries that public restrooms belong to have become investment hotspots. Public restrooms are an essential part of urban public service facilities and a window to showcase the city’s civil image and public service level. The cleanliness of public restrooms directly affects people’s perception of the city.