Lets face it, there are places on a plane we don’t like to go. For some, it’s the aversion of turning right when boarding a plane, for some its turning right and heading to the back row of said plane.
But for the germ-a-phobes, the one place they fear is probably the airplane toilet.
Well, it seems Boeing has come up with a concept for a cleaner toilet aboard a plane with what it calls “Boeing’s Clean Lavatory”.
Boeing Clean Lavatory – Image (c) The Boeing Company
So what’s the big clean feature here?
The idea behind the self-cleaning lavatory is that ultraviolet light will used to kill 99.99% of the germs, with the system able to clean the surfaces in a toilet in 3 seconds.
All this will be done when there is no one in the lavatory unit.
Boeing is combining this with other touchless features (such as the flush button being touchless – as seen on 787s).
Boeing argue that Far UV is different from UVA/UVB used on tanning beds (so no sneaky tanning in the bathroom) and is not harmful to people.
In addition, a lot of the design work that’s going on is to make it as touch free as possible – so controls like flush, soap dispenser, tap, hand dryer are all touch free.
Boeing has filed a patent for this concept.
Don’t expect it in airlines yet as there is development work that needs to occur to make this work-in progress – although some features are in airlines today (such as the touch free flush button).
Touch free flush button – Image Economy Class and Beyond, Source ANA 787 Trip Report
So a clean and sanitising flying experience maybe on the way soon
Boeing’s Clean Lavatory concept is a finalist for a Crystal Cabin Award. Hopefully when I’m at Aircraft Interior Expo 2016, I might be able to give you glimpse at this Boeing future if they’re exhibiting it there…
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[…] is filing patents for a self cleaning lavatory, with a greater focus on touchless everything. One wonders whether Boeing might include the bidet […]