’They are experts’: Charlotte Water produces hand sanitizer for city employees

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The city of Charlotte wants to make sure hundreds of city employees working on the front lines, from first responders to sanitation workers, are safe. But with the increased demand for hand sanitizer, it has been hard to come by.

“Like most organizations, we were having a struggle finding hand sanitizer product for our employees,” Charlotte Water Director David Czerr said.

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Luckily for the city of Charlotte, experts in the Charlotte Water Department quickly figured out how to produce hand sanitizer.

Czerr said 30 gallons of hand sanitizer have been produced so far, enough to fill 500 bottles. The hand sanitizer has been provided to firefighters, solid waste employees and employees with Charlotte Department of Transportation, he said.

“It was a team effort. Folks from our lab group, comm team came up with the labels and the markings, and our procurement team was able to find the ingredients and get them ordered,” Czerr said. “It was nice to be able to see them shine. They are experts.”

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The hardest part of the process according to Czerr was getting the necessary ingredients. According to Charlotte Water, the chemical makeup is isopropyl alcohol (99%), glycerol (99%) and hydrogen peroxide (3%).

The product is only available for city employees. Charlotte Water is going to continue to produce it until hand sanitizer is more readily available.

“I could have never envisioned us starting to produce hand sanitizer,” he said.

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