As facilities push to reduce water consumption, sensor-operated restroom fixtures offer a compelling path forward — but performance in the field is far from automatic. While today’s touchless technologies promise lower usage, improved hygiene and smarter controls, improper installation, poor system design and inconsistent user behavior can quickly undermine those benefits through false activations and unnecessary water waste.
In this manufacturer roundtable, Facility Maintenance Decisions asked restroom fixture manufacturers how maintenance teams can optimize sensor performance, leverage monitoring tools and evaluate retrofit decisions to ensure water-efficient fixtures deliver reliable savings over time.
FMD: How can maintenance managers install sensors to prevent false activations and water waste?
“Preventing unintended activations begins with proper installation and environmental assessment. False activations are commonly caused by reflective surfaces, direct sunlight, or movement within the sensor’s detection field.
Best practices include:
However, installation practices alone do not address long-term water management. Ongoing monitoring plays a significant role in identifying abnormal activation patterns, excessive run times, or leaks that may not be immediately visible.
Connected monitoring platforms allow maintenance teams to track water usage data and receive alerts related to continuous flow events or abnormal consumption patterns. This type of monitoring can help identify:
Leak detection alerts and usage reporting allow maintenance teams to intervene earlier, often before water waste becomes significant or damage occurs. In multi-restroom or multi-floor facilities, centralized monitoring can also reduce the need for manual inspections by identifying which specific fittings require attention.
Combining proper installation practices with ongoing usage monitoring helps ensure sensor-operated fittings maintain intended efficiency throughout their service life.”
— Greg Hunt, commercial product manager, Chicago Faucet
“Proper placement and calibration are essential for fixtures. They should be installed away from reflective surfaces, direct sunlight or areas with heavy foot traffic. Leading sensor systems now feature adaptive intelligence that continually adjusts detection sensitivity based on environmental changes. This helps limit false activations, reduces water waste and maintains a consistent user experience without constant recalibration.”
— Zach Dufala, senior manager - business development, Zurn Elkay Water Solutions
“False activations usually come back to design and installation discipline. Sensors need to be positioned within a sink environment that supports intentional use. If the fixture placement, basin geometry or user approach is off, you increase the likelihood of inconsistent activation and unnecessary water use.
The key is to treat the station as a system, not as a series of isolated components. When the sink, faucet, soap dispenser and dryer are designed to work together, the user experience becomes more intuitive and the sensor performance becomes more consistent. Following the installation requirements closely is critical if you want the fixture to deliver both efficiency and reliability.
Our team acts as a design-assist partner to ensure proper functionality. We review each phase of the drawings, evaluating details such as fixture placement to help prevent issues like false activations.”
— Samantha Chila, commercial sales executive, D|13 Group
FMD: Are there scenarios where a retrofit might not be cost-effective, even if the fixture is high performing?
“Yes. Retrofit cost-effectiveness depends on multiple factors beyond performance ratings, including:
In low-use facilities, savings may not offset labor and material costs within a reasonable payback period.
However, the scope of the retrofit significantly affects economics. Converting an existing fitting from manual to metering through cartridge and handle replacement may require substantially less labor than full fitting replacement. When a fitting platform supports internal interchangeability, retrofit costs are often lower because the supply connections and mounting hardware remain unchanged.
Conversely, if infrastructure modifications are required — such as electrical upgrades, countertop changes, or plumbing relocation — the retrofit may not justify the projected savings.
A lifecycle cost analysis that includes installation scope and operational flexibility provides a clearer financial picture.”
— Greg Hunt, commercial product manager, Chicago Faucet
“Yes. If the plumbing infrastructure requires extensive modifications such as major line resizing or drainage overhauls, then retrofits may be less cost-effective than integrating fixture upgrades into a larger renovation. In these cases, choosing products designed with universal retrofit kits and compact installation footprints can help reduce labor hours and improve the long-term return on investment.”
— Zach Dufala, senior manager - business development, Zurn Elkay Water Solutions
“False activations usually come back to design and installation discipline. Sensors need to be positioned within a sink environment that supports intentional use. If the fixture placement, basin geometry or user approach is off, you increase the likelihood of inconsistent activation and unnecessary water use.
The key is to treat the station as a system, not as a series of isolated components. When the sink, faucet, soap dispenser and dryer are designed to work together, the user experience becomes more intuitive and the sensor performance becomes more consistent. Following the installation requirements closely is critical if you want the fixture to deliver both efficiency and reliability.
Our team acts as a design-assist partner to ensure proper functionality. We review each phase of the drawings, evaluating details such as fixture placement to help prevent issues like false activations.”
— Samantha Chila, commercial sales executive, D|13 Group
FMD: How does user behavior impact the effectiveness of water-efficient fixtures?
“User behavior remains a critical variable in real-world water consumption.
Examples include:
Metering cartridges help reduce reliance on user shutoff behavior by automatically limiting run time. In facilities where extended manual run times are common, converting to metering operation can standardize water use without requiring user retraining.
Education and signage supporting proper handwashing techniques also reinforce the intended function of water-efficient fittings.
Monitoring usage patterns can help maintenance teams determine whether adjustments — such as modifying run times or changing cartridge type — are appropriate.”
— Greg Hunt, commercial product manager, Chicago Faucet
“User interaction significantly influences overall water savings. Fixtures with intuitive features, such as fast-fill laminar flow and increased filter capacity in bottle-filling stations or predictable activation in touchless faucets, align better with natural user behavior. This leads to consistent consumption patterns and maximizes the performance of water-saving technologies in real-world settings.”
— Zach Dufala, senior manager - business development, Zurn Elkay Water Solutions
“User behavior has a tremendous impact. Even the most efficient fixture performs better when the restroom supports intuitive, streamlined use. If people can wash, rinse and dry their hands in one place without moving around the restroom, the process becomes cleaner, faster and more efficient.
That is one of the most overlooked parts of restroom design. Water efficiency is not just about fixture specs. It is also about how people actually interact with the space. When the experience is intuitive, you are much more likely to see the performance and savings the system was designed to deliver.”
— Samantha Chila, commercial sales executive, D|13 Group
Jeff Wardon, Jr., is the assistant editor of the facilities market.
Balancing Water Savings with Real-World Performance
Design, Data and Behavior: The Real Drivers of Water-Efficient Restroom Fixtures
