Designed for Airports: How Touchless Faucets Survive Millions of Activations

Airport Duty Cycle: Designing for Millions of Operations

Usage Profiles in Aviation Facilities

Airport restrooms operate under near-continuous load:

• Heavy peaks around boarding and deplaning
• International user diversity
• Aggressive cleaning frequencies
• Large-scale simultaneous demand across terminals

Engineering considerations include:

• Dependable on/off cycling hundreds or thousands of times a day
• Tolerance to debris, scaling, and variable water pressure
• Resistance to impact, twisting and misuse

Commercial-grade touchless faucets are typically tested to ASME A112.18.1/CSA B125.1 Plumbing Supply Fittings, which defines performance and endurance requirements for materials, cartridges, and valves.

Reference:

ASME A112.18.1/CSA B125.1 Overview:

Maintobufiability as a Key Design Precept

Airport operators underline serviceability:

• Top-access maintenance where possible
• Modular components-sensors, solenoids, filters, mixing valves
• Standardized cartridges across product families
• Local shutoff valves for fixture-level isolation

These requirements shall be specified explicitly in Division 22 sections.

Mechanical and Materials Engineering for Long Life

Valve, Flow and Sealing Systems

Touchless faucets of airport grade normally employ

• Fast-response solenoid or motorized valves
• Pressure-compensating flow regulators
• Aerators designed to maintain stable output at 0.35–0.5 gpm
• Provide backflow protection-consistent with local plumbing codes

Key engineering metrics:

• Maximum working pressure ratings (common: 125–150 psi)
• Temperature tolerances – 60–80 °C / 140–176 °F
• Resistance to Chemicals: cleaners and disinfectants

Materials and Construction

Durability is driven by materials.

• Spouts/ bodies: Lead-free brass or Stainless steel (304/316)
• Finishes: PVD or high-performance coatings
• Wetted parts: Engineering polymers, for example, PEEK, polysulfone

Vandal-Resistance Features

Airports often require:

• Low-profile, non-leveraged spouts
• Hidden fasteners
• Reinforced mounting hardware
• Protected, recessed sensor windows

Sensor, Control, and Power Architecture

Sensor Technologies

Most the airport systems use modulated infrared sensing engineered to handle:

• Variable lighting conditions
• Shiny or reflective surfaces
• “Fly-by” traffic near counters

Robust systems feature adaptive gain control and tight detection cones to reduce false activations.

Electronics Protection

High humidity and chemical exposure requires:

• Ingress-protected control modules
• Conformal PCB coatings
• Surge and transient protection

Lockable under-sink boxes are often needed to prevent tampering.

Power Strategies

Airports typical usage:

• Hardwired low-voltage power (12–24 V AC/DC)
• Battery backup for redundancy
• High-capacity battery-only systems for select retrofit cases

Large terminals may integrate faucet power distribution with soap dispensers and flush valves.

Accessibility and Inclusive Design ADA, Reach, Use

ADA Standards for Reach and Operation

The 2010 ADA Standards for Accessible Design provide specific requirements for operable parts, reach ranges, and clearances.

ADA 2010 Standards:

Key Takeaways:

• Operable parts shall not require tight grasping, pinching or twisting.
• Operating force ≤ 5 lbf (22.2 N)
• Controls shall be located within Section 308/309 reach ranges

For touchless faucets, the “operable part” is the sensing zone plus any accessible mixing controls.

Practical ADA Considerations for Airports

Best practices include:

• Ensure sensor activation zones fall within ADA-reach ranges.
• Coordinating the heights of lavatories and geometry of basins
• Providing temperature limiters accessible from a seated position
• Visual aids for easy sensor placement

Water Efficiency: WaterSense, CALGreen and Airport Baselines

WaterSense as a Reference Benchmark

Although WaterSense labeling applies primarily to private lavatory faucets, many public projects use its criteria as design benchmarks.

Typical WaterSense flows:

• Maximum 1.5 gpm at 60 psi Private Restrooms
• Many airports specify 0.5 gpm or less, even absent of WaterSense applicability

CALGreen and Local Water-Use Requirements

California’s CALGreen includes mandatory water-use reductions and flow-rate limits.

These frameworks have often driven:

• 0.5 gpm flow rate caps for public lavatories
• Additional water-use reduction targets for Tier 1/Tier 2 projects

Balancing Efficiency and User Experience

Key engineering trade-offs include:

• Keeping hand-washing effectiveness at 0.35–0.5 gpm
• Application of devices which stabilize the flow by pressure compensation
• Optimising time-out values for water savings and usability

Temperature Control, Hygiene and ASSE 1070

ASSE 1070 Temperature Limiting Devices

To reduce scald risk, most airport faucets now incorporate point-of-use thermostatic devices listed to ASSE 1070.

Design considerations:

• Maximum outlet temperatures 110–120 °F typical
• Stability against pressure/temperature fluctuation
• Automatic shut-off with loss of cold water

Legionella Risk Reduction and Automatic Flushing

Industry and public health sources emphasize water age and flushing as critical controls for Legionella.

Flushing strategies often include:

• Maintaining hot water temperature according to ASHRAE recommendations
• Avoiding dead legs and stagnation points
• Automatic flushing cycles in faucet firmware – for example, 24-hour flush

These features are increasingly integrated with telemetry platforms for documentation and compliance monitoring.

Systems Integration: From Fixture to Building Platform

Telemetry and BMS Integration

Nowadays, airport faucets can pass:

• Activation counts
• Fault codes
• Battery status
• Flow-time data

Integration options include:

• BACnet/IP gateways
• Modbus TCP
• Cloud dashboards for facilities teams

Interdisciplinary Coordination

Integration involves several trades:

• Plumbing: supply, mixing, recirculation
• Electrical: low voltage power distribution
• IT/OT: networking, cybersecurity, VLAN segregation

Large terminals often treat faucet/soap/flush systems as a unified digital subsystem akin to lighting controls.

Specification Guidance for Architects & Engineers

Standards and Regulatory References

Specifications should reference:

ASME A112.18.1/CSA B125.1 Plumbing Supply Fittings

ASSE 1070 temperature-limiting devices ADA 2010 Standards EPA WaterSense CALGreen (if applicable)

Performance Requirements

Include performance criteria such as:

• Maximum flow rate at supply pressure
• Sensor reliability under defined ambient conditions
• Minimum endurance cycles for valves and finishes
• Environmental and water-temperature operating ranges
• Ingress protection requirements

Maintenance and System Requirements

Key requirements may include:

• Modular component replacement
• Top-access service points
• Local shutoff valves
• Sanitary flush capability
• BMS/IoT interface documentation

Conclusion

Touchless faucets in airports must operate as durable, maintainable, sustainable building infrastructure. Their success depends on engineering rigor, materials performance, standard compliance, and strong coordination across plumbing, electrical, and building-systems teams. By grounding specifications in ADA, ASME, CALGreen, WaterSense, and ASSE frameworks—and by treating faucet systems as part of a larger data-enabled ecosystem—design and construction teams can deliver restrooms that support millions of reliable activations while meeting tenant, passenger, and operational expectations.