The Three Bucket System

The Three Bucket System

This is a procedure for washing, rinsing, and sanitizing where a different bucket and sponge or mop is used for each task.

In washing:

1) For example, one bucket with water and soap/ detergent, is used only for this purpose and will not be used for rinsing or sanitizing.

For Rinsing:

2) Another bucket with water only, will be used solely for this purpose.

A third bucket:

3) Containing water and a sanitizing solution shall be used for sanitizing only.

There are color-coded for the purpose of easy recognition and minimizing mistakes.

For example:

The red bucket may be assigned for washing, white for rinsing and gray for sanitizing.

The liquid are changed frequently so as to maintain the consistency of the solutions.

A litmus paper test should also be frequently done on the sanitizing solution to ensure its effectiveness.

The three bucket system may be expanded to include the use of three separate sinks for each of the three tasks.

Namely,

Washing    - Red Mark

Rinsing      - White Mark

Sanitizing  - Gray Mark