Robin Godwin: Tinybrickoven Owner Will Fagg Invents Portable Hand Washing Sinks for the Public

When COVID-19 hit the United States, Tinybrickoven owner Will Fagg immediately began to think of ways he could use his skill set to help out. In addition to being a pizza maker and business owner, Fagg has worked in infection control as a petty officer with the United States Navy at the Roosevelt Roads Naval Station hospital in Puerto Rico and was an operating room nurse at Johns Hopkins. He also grew up as a “maker” building and taking things apart with his father’s tools. Using his ability to build things and his knowledge of the dangers of germs, Fagg decided to design and make portable hand washing sinks that could be deployed into public spaces.

Fagg’s hand washing sinks are made of two Home Depot buckets, a large bowl from Dollar Tree, a marine pump, PVC piping, wood, bungee cords, plumbing straps, hardware, and zip ties. Fagg said he built a similar sink 10 years ago for events where he sold pizza, but wanted to get a quick and efficient version designed as things were critical during the pandemic.

“More hand washing is good for everyone,” said Fagg.

In his two-bucket design, the bottom bucket holds clean water and the top bucket is for the dirty water. Fagg estimated people could wash their hands more than 100 times using one bucket of clean water. For areas with homeless populations, Fagg purchased a box of soap bars to be handed out. He also has a more advanced model of the sink next to the counter at Tinybrickoven with a container of hand soap and paper towels.

Fagg said the sinks cost about $30 to make and can be constructed in about 10 minutes. He has invested about $500 into the project and has the supplies to produce 10 more sinks. One is currently set up at the Home Depot in Dundalk, three were dropped off at the food pantry at the former Parts & Labor restaurant in Remington, and another was taken by a local advocate to bring to Martin Luther King Blvd. He is looking for more places to deploy the sinks and looking to partner with more members of the community who can help distribute them to areas in need.

Fagg has also made videos showing how to make the sinks hoping more people around the country will make them. He is also considering a potential GoFundMe campaign to raise money to build more sinks.

Business at Tinybrickoven in Federal Hill has dropped off significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Fagg, and like all restaurants in Maryland, his dining room is currently closed. Fagg said he wanted to stay open to keep busy and gain new customers, and he believe this will help the business in the long run.

He’s also used the down time to make his own gelato recipes for Tinybrickoven, to sell pizzas kits for customers for a period of time, and to host a soup kitchen for the homeless at the restaurant over Easter.