Your kitchen taps take some beating with every service. Even though you wash the bulk of your dishes and glassware in your dishwasher, your staff run taps in your sinks all the time. They rinse plates, wash vegetables and wash their hands regularly during their shifts.
While you may think that a tap is just a tap, you could get extra benefits by switching some or all of your kitchen taps to ones with automatic sensors. How do these taps work and what are the benefits?
How Sensor Taps Work
You don't have to touch a sensor tap to turn it on. The tap has a sensor that tells it when someone wants to use it.
For example, if one of your chefs wants to wash their hands in the hand-washing sink, they would put their hands under the tap spout, and the tap would automatically release water. When the chef is finished, they move their hands away, and the tap turns itself off.
The Benefits of Sensor Taps
Sensor taps help keep kitchens clean and hygienic. Nobody has to touch the tap to turn it on or off. This reduces bacteria and cross contamination.
For example, if one of your kitchen staff has been cutting up chicken, and they want to wash their hands under a regular tap, then they would have to touch the tap to turn it on. They could transfer raw chicken juices and even tiny bits of chicken on to the tap.
If this is left on the tap, bacteria may breed. Plus, if someone else then goes to wash their hands at that tap before preparing vegetables, then they may get chicken traces on their hands when they turn the tap off. This could cause cross-contamination problems.
You'll also find that sensor taps help keep your water bills down. In a busy kitchen, it's easy for people to run too much water or to leave taps running as they bounce between jobs. A sensor tap turns itself off so you can save more water.
More advanced sensor taps have extra features. For example, you can buy taps with a sensor setting that shuts the water off after a specific amount of time. So, if someone were to leave something in front of the sensor by mistake, the tap would turn itself off automatically.
If you're interested in installing sensor taps in your kitchen, ask your plumber for advice. They can talk you through different models and features to help you find the best taps for your needs.
