(D-160) Development of a Non-Contact Handwashing Device to Prevent the Spread of Communicable Disease in Nigeria

According to a report issued by UNICEF ahead of Global Handwashing Day in 2022, handwashing with soap is critical in the fight against infectious diseases, including COVID-19, yet millions of people in Africa have no ready access to a proper place to wash their hands. It was also reported that Nigeria has the world's highest number of deaths from waterborne disease among children under five years old. The factors contributing to this problem are numerous, but among the reasons is a lack of adequate handwashing infrastructure.

To address this deficiency, public and private institutions have deployed their own makeshift solutions. The most common solution consists of a bucket of water, mounted at hand height, with a tap fixed at the bottom of the bucket. When the tap is opened by hand, water flows out of the bucket and onto the user's hands which are placed beneath the tap. The user can then wash his/her hands. This solution, called the Veronica Bucket, grew immensely in popularity following the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The problem with this approach is that it still requires the user to physically touch the water tap. The goal of this project was to explore if a device could be developed which interfaced with differently sized buckets and allowed for handwashing without the need for physical interaction with the tap.

Prior to conceptualizing potential solutions to this problem, the team of engineers at the University of Ibadan

conducted a community survey of existing handwashing solutions at public and private institutions in the city of

Ibadan, Nigeria. The survey demonstrated that some of the most popular methods of handwashing included the

use of buckets with a tap punctured near the base. The team then set out to design a device which could interface with these differently sized buckets and release water from the bucket when a user put his/her hand underneath the device.

The team developed a device which replaces the manually operated tap on a Veronica Bucket. This battery-powered and rechargeable device automatically detects when a user places his/her hands underneath the bucket and then dispenses water and liquid soap onto the user's hand. The device then pauses, allowing the user to lather with soap, and then dispense water again from the bucket for rinsing. The entire operation takes about 40 seconds, in accordance with the World Health Organization’s handwashing guidelines. 

To test the effectiveness of the developed device, a questionnaire was prepared online using Google Forms, which respondents completed after using the device. The questionnaire asked various questions related to the device on a variety of topics including perceived handwashing efficacy, water conservation, soap dispensing functionality, hygiene and sanitation. Participants were also given the opportunity to share additional opinions about the device. A total of 11 respondents comprising 7 males and 4 females filled the questionnaire.

Results
User testing carried out among respondents shows 81.8% of the respondents are of the opinion that the device uses water efficiently, minimizing wastage. Also, all of the respondents (100%) are of the opinion that the device is effective in promoting proper hand hygiene. However, one concern emerged from the study. Because of the instability in the supply of electricity in Nigeria, users worried that the battery of the device may not be easily recharged. Further work on the research hopes to design a solar panel add-on that can interface with the handwashing device in other to charge the battery.

Conclusion
The project demonstrates that a handwashing device can be adapted to a variety of water bucket sizes. This device can dispense soap and water without requiring a user to physically touch any component parts, thereby reducing the risk of transmission of infectious diseases. Furthermore, users perceive that the device dispenses water efficiently - an important consideration in water-scarce environments. Most importantly, users had a positive experience using the device and the implementation of this study increased community conversations around the importance of proper hand hygiene.

The Catalyzer Grant for the on-going project was provided by the Institute for Global Health, Northwestern

University, Evanston, Illinois, USA.