Kyambogo University remains a hub of innovations even during this COVID lockdown. Mr. Nyangkori Christopher is a technician; he heads the plumbing and sanitation section under the Department of Estates and Works. He has invented a free touch washing equipment to help in handwashing during this COVID season.
Nyangkori said he got the idea of inventing this equipment when he visited Banda market during this lockdown and found people washing hands while touching the tap handle and after washing, they would use the same “washed hands” to close the tap.
Also, many people would touch the same soap several times and he realized it was not hygienic especially in this COVID-19 period. With this, he started thinking of how one can wash hands without touching soap and the tap.
Being a technical person in plumbing, Christopher developed an idea of making a completely free touch washing equipment. He developed a self-closing water valve system which is inside the water tank. When one steps on the pedal, the system opens up the valve for the water to flow out. When one releases the foot from the pedal, the system automatically closes the water outflow.
There is an attached container to accommodate liquid soap and when one steps on the foot pedal, the soap is released for use. It has a provision for solid soap as well, where a bar of soap is placed in the dispenser and it keeps releasing small particles of soap to use.
The wasted water drains directly to the drainage system through a manhole. In places where there is no manhole, there can be a creation of a soakaway pit to drain the wasted water.
Nyangkori reveals that when he was developing the equipment, he had students in mind when they return to resume the semester. He thought washing stations might be a requirement for Lecture rooms and Offices. So he thought this would work best in this COVID time.
The water tank fills with 100 litres of water and this can be used by 200 people before it is refilled. He said that it cost him five hundred and fifty thousand altogether to complete the equipment. He went further to say he can produce ten equipment in one day when all materials are in place. He added that this is purely done manually.