I can imagine how the conversation must have gone.  A slick salesman stood in the board room staring down a room full of business savy executives.  “Just image how much money you will save,” said the salesman, producing a break even analysis and complex charts backing up the claims of his product.  Everything looked good on paper.  All of the numbers made sense.  And aside from being a great economical decision, the technology they were about to buy into would also help save the environment!  What choice did they have but to buy in and send their money straight to the crapper?

Yes, restroom technology.  The loo.  It’s becoming a more interesting journey each time nature calls because you never know what you’re going to find next.  But is it really worth it?  I was recently out at a client-site where they spent who knows how much money outfitting their restrooms with the most up-to-date technologies a restroom has ever seen. Theoretically, the concept is great.  Embedded in all of you’re favorite restroom fixtures are infrared sensors that determine how close you are to the item in question and whether you are coming or going.  When you walk away from a toilet, it auto-flushes.  When you put your hand near the soap dispenser, it auto-dispenses.  And the faucets only run when you’re hands are in the sink.  At least in theory.

Reality, however, is another story.  Take the toilets and urinals for example.  Although they are great at determine when you’re leaving, they are not so great at determining when you’re not leaving.  Make one wrong move during your transaction and you’ll set it off.  And if it catches you off guard and makes you jump, well, you’ll probably set it off again.

Soap dispensers and faucets can also be problematic.  They’re fun at first because you wave your hand under the soap dispensers and they fire a little squirt of soap on your hands.  Then you move your hands under the faucet and a torrent of water comes shooting out.  But while you’re hand is under the faucet it’s only about 4 inches from the soap dispenser, so the dispenser continues to squirt soap because it’s still sensing your hand.  When it’s all said and done, you end up with clean hands and a gooey pile of soap in the sink. 

But sometimes it works out because you’ll walk away and the faucet sensor gets stuck and the water never turns off (which in turns helps rinse away the soap).  You wave your hand back and forth under the sink hoping that you’ll be able to turn the water off, but you only succeed in setting off the soap dispenser again.  You look for a way to turn off the water, but there are no knobs or buttons because it’s a hands free system, so you’re pretty much helpless. 

And as you away down the hallway and hear the fading sound of running water coming from the loo, remember, that’s the sound of progress.