Easyflush aids students at Treloar College
May 12th 2009 LOCATION
Treloar College, for students with physical disabilities aged sixteen or over, is specially designed not only to educate but also to help these young people to integrate into society. Situated in Holybourne near Alton in Hampshire, Treloar takes students from all over the country and provides a positive,supportive environment in which they can develop as adults. Welcomed students have a wide range of physical conditions including those that have an associated learning difficulty. They also cater for students with degenerative or life limiting conditions. Many students who come to the college choose to board and because the halls are managed in a number of small units, staff and students have the opportunity to get to know each other well. There are five halls of residence each with space for about thirty-two students and each hall has its team of highly qualified support staff.
THE PROJECT
Brewer House was built in July 2008 and it consists of a 3.5million pound brand new hall with 30 en-suite bedrooms and three communal bathrooms and was designed by Fleet architectural practice McAllen & Penfold and built by Winchester based construction company, Wilding Butler Construction Ltd. Working closely with the architects, Cistermiser assisted with the preparation of the specification as, clearly, user friendly equipment was required. To this end Cistermiser’s Easyflush system was specified in 16 of the bathrooms.
THE SOLUTION
This ‘hands free’system completely eliminates the need to rotate a handle or apply pressure on a button and it has proved immensely popular in situations where elderly or less able people are involved and also, for its damage and vandal proof qualities, in all sorts of public installations. Easyflush is a WRAS Approved,hygienic and simple-to-use product that employs a single infra-red sensor to operate a dual-flush WC valve. The user needs only to pass his or her hands in front of the sensor for a part flush, or hold them in front for more than a second to obtain a full flush. A twelve-hour hygiene flush is fitted as standard and of course the system conserves water as much as possible since it cannot easily be misused and in the case of the College, savings of 47% are expected both on costs and water consumption. The Easyflush units supplied were installed using battery power for ease of installation and maintenance.
McAllen & Penfold then put Cistermiser in touch with Tom Dunsford of Accolade Building Services, who arranged a site visit,so that the optimum positioning of the cisterns to be used could be established.Cistermiser also tested one of the unusually small cisterns in their workshop to ensue that it was fully compatible with the Easyflush system. This ‘hands on’ approach continued even after all the systems were in place since a representative of Cistermiser visited the College’s facilities department, gave a short presentation of the Easyflush product and answered the inevitable FAQs. He also left a contact number so that Treloar College could phone him directly if any problems or questions arose, a procedure much appreciated in these days of prolonged phone calls with innumerable numbered options before human contact is made.The Easyflush system,where operation of a short flush is made as soon as a hand is passed in front of an infra red sensor and a full one when the sensor detects the hand’s presence for over a second, is operating perfectly and has been greatly appreciated by the students.No direct phone calls have been necessary. More articles from Water Efficient Solutions Support: | 
