Smelly, unhygienic toilets – your days are numbered.
Ballito’s Dylan Ross-Kent has revolutionised the extraction of smelly, germ-filled odours from the bathroom with his own invention, ‘Hygizone’.
After six years of refining the idea into a working product and introducing the concept into the market, Hygizone has become a talking point in the industry. The concept is becoming an industry standard
with developers and architects across the country, including well known developers like Growthpoint, Atterbury Properties and even Ballito Lifestyle Centre, endorsing his invention. The KZN Health department has specified the system in its mechanical and structural policy document and is installing it into hospitals and health care facilities across the province.
This dynamic Ballito business man is an electrician by trade, but has spent a fare amount of time working in the plumbing industry. The idea came to him while working in England between 2000 and 2002.
“I worked as a plumber in modern high rise office towers. They had all the bells and whistles, but that meant very little as the lavatories still smelt bad. This started me thinking that there had to be a
solution.”
Ross-Kent explained that the standard extraction system is placed in the ceiling above the toilet.
“This draws the smell out of the toilet bowl and directly past the person sitting on the toilet, before removing it and is not very effective. Hygizone integrates into the toilets and urinals allowing extraction directly from the source – inside the bowl.”
According to an independent study by APEX Environmental occupational hygienists, Hygizone is 10 times (or 1000%) more effective at removing contaminants from bathrooms.
In a recent report by the US Environmental Protection Agency on how to minimize the transmission of air-borne influenza viruses, like swine flu and SARS in buildings, it was revealed that diarrhoea is in fact seven times more contagious than coughing or sneezing during transmission. They recommended the extraction grilles be placed as close to the toilet as possible due to this finding.
“My invention fits the bill as you cannot get closer than inside the toilet itself. This is what makes the system so crucial for public toilets and hospitals.”
The transmission of TB is similar toSwine flu and SARS. As a result Hygizone has been included in the KZN Health department design documentation for infection control in health care facilities.

“When we smell an odour these are actually airborne particles that could be carrying bacteria and Hygizone removes these contaminants from the air.”

Apart from a health point of view Hygizone recently commissioned WSP UK to carry out an environmental assessment on the Hygizone system compared to conventional mechanical extraction systems. Due to its efficiency it was proven that a 26% capital cost saving and up to 40% running costs saving can be achieved.
Ross-Kent has patented his design and recently brought out a model for use in private homes which can be installed while building or renovating.
“I designed it to be as simple as possible. It’s easy to install and is a huge cost saving compared to installing traditional air extraction systems.”