Living and working in a multi-story residential dwelling means you more than likely have a trash chute.  Did you know that the mold, fungi, and bacteria that caused those awful odors in summer still exist in your chutes this winter?  Studies done over the last few years indicate that more than 30 different biological and bacterial growths can be found on the inner surface of the trash chutes.

These include the following “TOP TEN”; Salmonella, E. Coli, Shigella Dysentery, Legionella, Listeria Mono Cytogeneses, Aeromonas Hydrophilia, Clostridium Perfingens, Aspergillus Group, Pseudomonas, Aeruginosa and Staphylocci Aurous.  These “TOP TEN” cause everything from Bacterial Diarrhea, Typhoid, Pneumonia, Legionnaires’ Disease, Gas gangrene, Septicemia, Meningitis to heart murmurs, wound and bone infections and superinfections that can be fatal.

In the Building Environment Report, out of Washington D.C., it states, “To what degree trash chute bacteria can affect building occupants during brief exposures depends on ventilation maintenance and pollutant pathways.  The risk is great if chutes become clogged when residents improperly dispose of certain items such as chemical, or animal waste and trash chute air is allowed to enter the building’s ventilation system.  Building managers need to recognize that bacteria found in trash chutes have the potential to cause building-wide illness if allowed to get into the ventilation system.  Steps need to be taken to ensure bacteria is contained and abated in the trash chute.”

You and your residents are exposing yourselves to these pathogens every time you open a dirty trash chute door.  The air comes rushing to meet the person opening the chute at approximately 5 to 30 miles per hour, blasting the person with airborne bacteria, mold, and fungi.  A natural reaction of the human body is to inhale when the face/ respiratory system is exposed to a blast of air.  The illness-causing pathogens are taken deep into the lungs exposing the user to disease.

Even in the most well kept residential buildings, trash chutes can become a breeding ground for bacteria, mold, and fungi.  While some buildings experience only mild odors and pests in the chutes, the fact is many of these chutes have never been cleaned.  Trash chutes become a virtual buffet for pests and vermin.  Attracted by the garbage odor these pests get into the room despite all precautions.  They burrow into the trash containers where they multiply and spread until the rest of the building becomes infected.

Legally a trash chute has the potential to be a “Sanitary Nuisance”.  A sanitary nuisance is the commission of any act, by an individual, municipality, organization, or corporation, by which the health or life of an individual, or the health or lives of individuals, may be threatened, or impaired, or by which or through which directly or indirectly, the disease may be caused.  In other words, as building and property managers, you are held legally liable for the health of your residents.  In this “sue happy” culture, where everyone wants someone else to pay for anything that goes wrong, an unclean trash chute is a legal time bomb waiting to explode. They can sue you if you don’t take prudent and proper care

It is very simple to avoid these problems including legal entanglements, by doing one thing, CLEAN YOUR TRASH CHUTES. This does not mean clean them once and all is fine. Prudent and proper care of your trash chutes means getting them cleaned on a regular basis by a qualified company.  Cleaning them three to four times a year is recommended with every other month being optimal. Your chutes will be clean, and the residents pleased with the lack of odor and pests. Basic chute cleaning consists of a chemical wash to soften the grimy buildup, followed by a pressure wash to blast it from the chute walls. This is followed by cleaning and de-greasing the hopper doors on each floor; deodorizing the chute walls, enzyme treatment, and washing and deodorizing the compactor. Chute cleaning won’t do away with the vermin, but if used in conjunction with odor control and exterminating, it will make pest control more effective.  Other benefits of regular chute cleaning are immediately apparent, such as the elimination of offensive odors, flammable grease, and harmful bacteria.

In addition to the cleaning, your chutes need to have an odor control system that works between cleanings. The system must kill the odor and disease-causing bacteria between cleaning, not just mask it.  This between cleaning odor and bacteria control system will ensure that you are taking prudent and proper care of your residents.  Make sure you have a service contract with a company that will also, make repairs and replaces chute doors if needed, and services the compactor.

Although they are often neglected, trash chute cleaning is a vital maintenance procedure that should be part of every building maintenance regimen. Chute cleaning is a reflection of the overall quality of a building’s maintenance and leads to an improved quality of life for all residents.  Call a qualified company and set up a service contract today.  It will help to keep your building and residents healthy, property value up, and keep you from legal entanglements.