Cleaning Machine: As Workforce Cutbacks Threaten Schools, Custodial Managers Are Turning To Touchless Cleaning

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Hydro Systems Company has developed its ICS Mobile Touchless Cleaning Unit to provide not only cleaner and more sanitary facilities, but to deliver that improved level of cleanliness while consuming less water, less cleaning chemicals and fewer man-hours.

With cleaning budgets getting tighter, especially in K-12 school districts, minimizing maintenance costs has become a front-of-mind consideration for custodial managers and supervisors, who must meet the budgetary edicts established by school boards. That has meant an intensified search for cleaning methods that are more efficient than traditional mop-and-bucket or spray-and-wipe techniques, which are not only time-consuming and de-motivating to cleaning personnel, but often result in substandard levels of cleanliness.

The battery-powered ICS, which eliminates the need for electrical outlets, bulky hoses, and long cords meets the requirements of educational-facility cleanliness by using properly diluted cleaning chemicals that are applied with a low-flow/low-pressure nozzle. The ICS is also kind to the environment, with 50% less water and chemicals used when compared to many other automated cleaning systems, while also requiring less energy usage. In addition, efficacy reports conducted by an independent testing laboratory show that cleaning with an ICS unit can be 40 times more effective than traditional cleaning methods.

The ability of the ICS to improve cleaning while reducing cost was recently demonstrated at a school district in the Northwestern U.S. This school district, which serves more than 10,000 students on 18 campuses, including three high schools, had seen its custodial staff slashed by 15 part-time members. Knowing that even with a depleted workforce the schools would need to maintain their expected level of cleanliness, ICS units have been utilized, taking the sting out of the reduced custodial staff by offering the capability to perform most cleaning tasks in roughly half the time.

“In seeing the time that was being saved, I knew we could make up the loss in man-hours by using the ICS,” said a school district spokesperson. “No matter the size of my staff, I still have to maintain the same level of sanitation and cleanliness. To that end, the ICS is playing a key role.”