FacilitiesNet

Lavatories Offer Big Solution for Little Mermaids and Pirates

The Children's Museum of Fond du Lac (CMFDL) is dedicated to creating hands-on learning experiences through interactive exhibits and educational programs.

After six years of operations in the city's Windhover Center for the Arts, the museum relocated to Fond du Lac's Waterfront District in August 2013. The new location provided the museum with larger classrooms, expanded exhibition space and an outdoor area to engage its 24,000 annual visitors. The facility also needed washrooms fixtures that would fit the new location's look.

The museum enjoys a diverse range of visitors in terms of its guests' respective ages and physical abilities, and it was vital for the CMFDL's washroom fixtures to accommodate the needs of all visitors. Because a majority of the museum's guests are young children, maintaining washroom cleanliness is always a top priority — and often a challenge. In its prior location, the CMFDL was often inundated by paper towel waste and water buildup on washroom counters and floors.

The CMFDL's new washroom fixtures also needed to fit the museum's vision of environmental responsibility in terms of energy and water management. The CMFDL chose to install new Advocate AV-Series Lavatory Systems from Bradley in its "pirates" and "mermaids" washrooms. The Advocate is an all-in-one touchless sink that combines an ultra-low-flow faucet, soap dispenser, and high-efficiency hand dryer in a single unit.

The Advocate's all-in-one design enables users to complete the entire handwashing process — soap, rinse and dry — in one place. The unit ensures that water goes down the drain instead of spilling on floors, which keeps the washrooms cleaner and decreases the likelihood of slippery floors and potential injuries. The Advocate's basin is made of recycled solid surface material and the faucet reduces water use by 24 percent, according to the company. The Advocate is also ADA-compliant.