Water and dollars down the drain: The real cost of water wasted during surgical hand scrubbing

Association Between Eliminating Water From Surgical Hand Antisepsis at a Large Ophthalmic Surgical Hospital and Cost

“…It is likely that many surgeons do not follow the scrub time guidelines set out by the WHO precisely, with an unknown effect on hand sterility or ultimate effect on patients. Moreover, Prabhu et al showed that surgical personnel often leave water running unnecessarily during the scrub procedures instead of opening the faucet only at the beginning and end of each hand rinsing.…”

“…The estimate by Wormer et al was based solely on municipal water and sewage cost and water consumption per surgical procedure. Other studies have tracked the water used by surgeons at scrub sinks in surgical preparation, suggesting that unnecessary water use, primarily caused by allowing the water to run throughout the scrub process, is common practice …”