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Water Treatment worker using R&R Lotion skin care

Water & Wastewater

Hand care for water treatment workers

Chemicals, pollutants and germs at the plant, then sun and mosquitoes out at the basins and lift stations. You wash your hands all day and they pay for it. We make the hand cleaners, sanitizers and outdoor protection that keep you covered without drying you out.

Shop the plant kitSamples for your crew
R&R LOTIONUSA

What a shift does to your skin

Germs inside, sun and bugs outside

Water and wastewater crews face exposure to hazardous chemicals and a high risk of infectious disease. Here’s where the trouble comes from, and what helps.

Problem 01

Germs on every surface

Wastewater work means contact with bacteria and pollutants all shift. Clean hands matter, but constant washing and alcohol sanitizer leave skin dry and cracked.

BZK or alcohol sanitizer? →
Problem 02

Mosquitoes at the basins

Clarifiers, ponds and standing water are where mosquitoes breed. Crews working outside need a repellent that lasts.

Where mosquitoes breed →
Problem 03

Sun on open sites

Treatment plants and pump stations have little shade. Hours of sun on the rounds add up for the skin.

UV, PPE and sunscreen →

The water treatment kit

Hand cleaner, sanitizer, sunscreen and insect repellent for water treatment crews

Specifically designed to eliminate germs and bacteria without drying out the skin, plus sun and bug protection for the rounds.

All sanitizers →
IC Antibacterial Waterless Hand Cleaner with Micro Scrubbers
CleanIC Antibacterial Waterless Hand Cleaner with Micro ScrubbersNo-rinse hand cleaner with micro scrubbers. BZK helps remove germs. Apply, scrub, towel off.From $7.49Add to cart · $8.098oz. · other sizes
IC Hand Sanitizing Cream
SanitizeIC Hand Sanitizing CreamAlcohol-free sanitizing cream using benzalkonium chloride. Kills germs and moisturizes at the same time.From $7.35 ★★★★★ (6) 4.4 on Amazon · 1,305 ratingsAdd to cart · $9.998oz. · other sizes
I.C. Industrial Sunscreen SPF 36
ProtectI.C. Industrial Sunscreen SPF 36I.C. Industrial Sunscreen SPF 36. Hybrid mineral and organic filters, full broad spectrum, 80-minute sweat and water resistant.From $8.15 ★★★★★ (8) 4.3 on Amazon · 269 ratingsAdd to cart · $19.508oz. · other sizes
IC Insect Repellent Lotion
RepelIC Insect Repellent LotionEPA-registered IR3535 lotion. Up to 8 hours against mosquitoes and ticks.From $8.99 4.2 on Amazon · 76 ratingsAdd to cart · $15.958oz. · other sizes

Also for the crew: I.C. Foaming Hand Sanitizer · I.C. Heavy Duty Hand Cleaner · I.C. Advanced Repair Hand Cream · I.C. Insect Repellent Spray

Water Treatment worker using R&R Lotion skin care

For plant managers & safety

Hand hygiene at every station

Sanitizer at the lab, hand cleaner at the shop, sunscreen and repellent on the trucks. Tell us about your plant and we’ll help with samples and dispensers.

Request samplesTalk to our team
R&R LOTIONUSA
99.99%Of germs killed by I.C. Foaming Hand Sanitizer and Sanitizing Cream
15 secI.C. Foaming Hand Sanitizer kills germs in as little as 15 seconds
SPF 36Full broad spectrum, 80-minute sweat and water resistant
8 hrsEPA-registered IR3535 protection against mosquitoes and ticks

On the job

Made for every shift

Water Treatment worker using R&R Lotion skin care (No-rinse clean-up)
No-rinse clean-up
Treatment plant operator in a hard hat applying sunscreen beside the clarifiers at dawn
Clarifier rounds
Water Treatment worker using R&R Lotion skin care (Lab bench)
Lab bench
Water Treatment worker using R&R Lotion skin care (Lift station)
Lift station
Water Treatment worker using R&R Lotion skin care (Pump room)
Pump room

Field Notes

What a treatment plant does to your skin

Five short animated chapters: the work, the exposure, what happens in the skin, why we built the product, and how to use it on the job.

Education, not medical advice. Your plant’s safety program and each product’s label come first. If your hands crack or won’t settle down, or you get a fever or rash after a bite, see a clinician.

CaptionA plant shift: sampling and lab work where you wash and sanitize over and over, then rounds at the clarifiers in the sun, where mosquitoes work the standing water.

01 · The work

Inside the plant, out on the basins

Operators, lab techs and collections crews split the day. Inside, wastewater work means contact with bacteria and pollutants, so you wash and sanitize all shift. Outside, the rounds take you past clarifiers, ponds and lift stations with little shade.

Two exposures, one shift: hands that never stop getting washed, and skin out in the sun next to the water mosquitoes breed in.

Mosquitoes breed in standing water: ponds, marshes, bird baths, even a discarded tire.R&R Lotion, Vector Borne Diseases white paper, p. 4

CaptionTop: every wash and sanitize takes some of the skin’s natural oils (the yellow mortar) with it. Bottom: mosquitoes lay eggs on standing water, the larvae and pupae grow in it, and adults fly off to feed.

02 · Two exposures

Wash water inside, standing water outside

  • Skin cells, mosquito stages
  • Oils and lipids
  • Water

The skin’s outer layer, the stratum corneum, is dead skin cells held together by natural oils and lipids, like bricks and mortar. Frequent washing and sanitizing strip those oils, and the mortar wears thin.

Out at the basins, mosquitoes go from egg to larva to pupa to adult in still water. Only the females bite: they need blood to produce eggs, and they find you by the carbon dioxide, heat and body odor you give off.

Sources: R&R Lotion blog, Protecting Your Skin with Barrier Creams (2023) and A Comprehensive Look at Mosquitoes (2023); R&R Lotion, Vector Borne Diseases white paper, p. 4.

CaptionTop: with the mortar worn thin, hands dry out and crack, and the skin underneath reddens. Bottom: a mosquito’s mouthpart reaches a small blood vessel, and any germ in its saliva goes in with it.

03 · What develops

Cracked hands, and what a bite can carry

  • Redness
  • Germ in the saliva

Keep stripping the barrier and you get irritant contact dermatitis: redness, itching and dryness that can progress to cracking and blistering. Cracked hands are harder to keep clean, which matters in a plant full of bacteria.

Most mosquito bites just itch. Some carry disease. In the U.S., mosquitoes spread West Nile virus. Most people infected have no symptoms or a mild, flu-like illness 3 to 14 days after the bite; severe neurological cases are rare but serious.

The U.S. reported 2,911 West Nile virus cases in 2021, 1,558 of them neuroinvasive.R&R Lotion, Vector Borne Diseases white paper, p. 9

CaptionTop: an alcohol-free sanitizing cream rubs in as a light layer. Bottom: an IR3535 repellent layer goes on exposed skin; a mosquito closes in, has a harder time finding you, and turns away.

04 · Why we built it

Built for plants that wash all day

Crews who sanitize all shift need an alcohol-free option for the lab and the shop, a way to clean up on the truck after a lift-station call, and sun and bug protection for the rounds.

I.C. Hand Sanitizing Cream

An alcohol-free hand sanitizer to decrease bacteria on the skin, made with benzalkonium chloride 0.13% in a cream base with shea and sunflower butters. Rub it onto hands until absorbed. NSF registered, category E3.

See the sanitizing cream →

I.C. Antibacterial Waterless Hand Cleaner

For lift stations and the truck. Apply, scrub with the micro scrubbers, towel off. Removes grease, dirt and grime without water. Made with benzalkonium chloride to help remove germs from your hands.

See the waterless cleaner →

I.C. Insect Repellent Lotion

An EPA-registered IR3535 repellent. Repels mosquitoes and ticks for up to 8 hours. Odorless and non-greasy.

See the repellent →

I.C. Industrial Sunscreen SPF 36

Broad spectrum SPF 36, 80-minute sweat and water resistant. A hybrid: non-nano zinc oxide plus organic UV filters, with no avobenzone. A lotion, not a spray, and it rubs in clear.

See the sunscreen →

I.C. Hand Sanitizing Cream is dermatologist tested: a 50-subject patch test with zero reactions.ALS / BioScreen, FDA-registered lab, Study 22-522A (2022)

CaptionFour moments on shift: before the rounds, every two hours outside, between tasks in the lab and shop, and out at a lift station with no sink.

05 · On shift

When to use what

  1. 1
    Before the roundsSunscreen first, applied liberally to exposed skin 15 minutes before you’re in the sun. Then repellent over dry, exposed skin. For your face, put it in your palm and rub it on.
  2. 2
    Every 2 hours outsideReapply sunscreen at least every 2 hours and after 80 minutes of sweating. Reapply repellent about every 8 hours, no more than 3 times a day.
  3. 3
    Lab and shopSanitizing cream between tasks, rubbed in until absorbed. At a wall pump, I.C. Foaming Hand Sanitizer is the alcohol-free foam version (NSF E3).
  4. 4
    At a lift stationNo sink? Waterless hand cleaner at the truck: apply, scrub, towel off.

Follow each product’s Drug Facts or EPA label directions and your plant’s hygiene and PPE rules.

Water treatment hand care Samples for your plant
Sources
  1. R&R Lotion, Vector Borne Diseases: Causes, Prevention and Treatment, white paper, pp. 4, 9 and 11.
  2. R&R Lotion, Skin Cancer: Causes, Prevention and Treatment, white paper (2024).
  3. I.C. Hand Sanitizing Cream Drug Facts (benzalkonium chloride 0.13%; use: hand sanitizer to decrease bacteria on the skin); ALS / BioScreen, Human Repeat Insult Patch Test, Study 22-522A, November 2, 2022.
  4. NSF registrations on file: I.C. Hand Sanitizing Cream and I.C. Alcohol-Free Foaming Hand Sanitizer, E3.
  5. I.C. Antibacterial Waterless Hand Cleaner label and Drug Facts (benzalkonium chloride 0.13%; use: hand washing to decrease bacteria on the skin).
  6. I.C. Insect Repellent Lotion EPA label: IR3535 10%, EPA Reg. No. 70759-2-91651; repels mosquitoes and ticks for up to 8 hours.
  7. I.C. Industrial Sunscreen SPF 36 Drug Facts (zinc oxide 7.02%, octinoxate 6.00%, benzophenone-3 4.70%, octisalate 4.00%); AMA Laboratories, SPF and 80-minute water resistance study, Lab No. N-0479 (2013).
  8. Protecting your skin with barrier creams (2023).
  9. A comprehensive look at mosquitoes: life cycle and habitats (2023).
  10. Benzalkonium chloride or alcohol-based hand sanitizer? (2023).
  11. A wet summer means more mosquitoes (2025).

Learn

Articles for water and wastewater crews

Plain-English guides from our team on hand hygiene, mosquitoes and sun.

All articles →
Aug 2023 · SanitizerBenzalkonium Chloride or Alcohol-based Hand Sanitizer?Read →Jan 2023 · ProgramsThe Importance of Moisturizing in Hand Hygiene ProgramsRead →Jun 2025 · BugsA Wet Summer Means More Mosquitoes – Here’s How to Stay ProtectedRead →Jun 2023 · BugsA Comprehensive Look at Mosquitoes: Understanding Their Life Cycle and Preferred HabitatsRead →Jul 2023 · SunProtecting Outdoor Workers from UVR Exposure: The Imperative of Proper PPE and Sunscreen UseRead →

Join the crew

A community of the trades

Pick your work. We’ll send what’s useful for your job: plain-English guides, seasonal reminders and invites to short webinars for crews and safety managers.

Coming soon

Be the operator your crew listens to

We’re building an ambassador program for the people crews already listen to.

  • Your own code to share with your crew
  • A seat at our webinars, with early product news
  • Samples for the trailer, the unit or the shop

Join the crew and you’ll be the first to hear when it opens.

Field notes for your trade

Articles and webinar invites matched to the work you do. A few emails a month.

Questions plant crews ask

Water treatment hand hygiene: FAQ

Will frequent sanitizing dry out my hands?
I.C. Sanitizing Cream, I.C. Foaming Hand Sanitizer and I.C. Antibacterial Waterless Hand Cleaner are alcohol-free and made to eliminate germs and bacteria without drying out the skin.
How fast do your sanitizers work?
I.C. Foaming Hand Sanitizer kills 99.99% of common germs in as little as 15 seconds, and I.C. Hand Sanitizing Cream kills 99.99% of germs. Both use benzalkonium chloride instead of alcohol.
What if there’s no sink at the job?
Use I.C. Antibacterial Waterless Hand Cleaner. Apply, scrub and towel off. No rinse needed.
What’s in the insect repellent?
I.C. Insect Repellent uses EPA-registered IR3535 and protects against mosquitoes and ticks for up to 8 hours.
Can our plant get samples?
Yes. Request free samples and we’ll help you pick sizes and dispensers.

Skin care that cares about the worker and about the work

Try it at your plant first.

Free samples for plant managers and safety teams. Buy direct, through your distributor or on GSA.

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Other trades we make skin care for

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