Aircraft toilet sanitisers

Aircraft toilet sanitisers may come into contact with a variety of different materials through spillage and leakage and therefore materials testing is essential on neat and diluted sanitiser solutions. Problems have occurred in the past where electrical connectors have been short-circuited by leakage in the toilet area and caused loss of aircraft trim during flight. A typical list of materials tested is shown below ... 

The ideal product may not exist with today s technology, but an attempt has been made here to list the most desired properties of an aircraft toilet sanitiser to satisfy customers needs and at the same time maintain safety for workers and the environment ... 

According to a study by the World Health Organisation, viruses have been found to survive chemical treatment in aircraft toilets. Researches reported that up to half the samples of waste pumped from on-board toilets contained viruses despite the use of toilet sanitiser. All the viruses isolated from the waste were associated with enteric disorders. This indicates that other viruses such as those that cause hepatitis could also survive. As a consequence, future products will need to be even more effective as it is believed that between 1-10% of viruses survive to be potentially discharged into the environment. 

In 1944 Wellington bomber R for Robert was on a training mission in Scotland. During the course of the exercise the plane experienced difficulties and was forced to ditch into Loch Ness with the loss of one crewman. The bomber settled on the bottom of the lakebed and lay undisturbed for years. Divers discovered her 10 years ago in a remarkable state of preservation and a decision was taken to raise her from the lake and undertake a complete renovation of the aircraft. Among the items found on board was an Elsan toilet, undamaged and in excellent condition. The problems of maintaining and sanitising toilets on wartime aircraft were not key issues at that time, but today this aspect is extremely important in civil aviation. 

Solids and liquids are collected in special lightweight tanks. The number and size of the tanks will depend on the size of the aircraft, typically 220 litre for an Airbus A320/321 and 700-1100 litre for an Airbus A330/340 (2-3 tanks). Similar to the recirculation toilet, tanks are charged with 25% of their total volume with the requisite amount of water and sanitiser. 

---