In most facilities, the primary goal of architects, planners, and plumbing engineers when designing restrooms is to manage peak traffic volume as effectively as possible. They consider a range of variables to help them select the products that best serve their clients' restroom needs.
For instance, they factor in the type of facility— office, hospital, emergency center—the number of people having access to the restrooms, the size of the facility, accessibility issues regulated by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), cleaning, and hygiene, as well as use and traffic. However, once installed, it is usually how efficiently these fixtures conserve water and their ease of maintenance that become the primary concern.
A few years back, water and sewage costs in the United States averaged approximately $4 per 1,000 gallons. This rate has been increasing annually, and it is predicted that water costs will rise at a pace of 2 percent greater than inflation in the near future.
Additionally, pumping water to and from a facility requires electricity, an energy source becoming ever more costly. These costs are either paid by the water department through higher taxes or levied on the facility itself.
And the United States is not alone in experiencing increased costs for water. Many countries worldwide, such as Ireland, Australia, and Canada, are increasing their user costs for water, and many are implementing surcharges for excessive water use.
Fortunately, as facilities re-open from the pandemic, they are being greeted by a new generation of restroom fixture and water-saving technologies. These fixtures are safer, healthier, and by conserving water, these restroom fixtures play a crucial role in minimizing a building's environmental footprint and reducing its financial liabilities.
Among them are the following:
On-Demand Water Faucets
According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, a considerable amount of water can be saved by switching to on-demand, sensory-controlled water faucets. Based on comparing conventional (manual) faucets and sensor-operated faucets, on-demand faucets offer a savings of 1.057 gallons of water each time a person washes their hands.
Typically, when using manual faucets, users waste considerable amounts of water as they lather their hands, rinse, and reach for a towel. These savings occur because sensor-operated faucets shut off as soon as the user's hands are removed from the faucet area. Also, manual faucets are often left running because, as on-demand technology becomes more common, users expect the tap to turn off by itself.
Low-Flow Toilet Technologies
Although toilets manufactured in the United States since 1992 are required to use no more than 1.6 gallons of water per flush (GPF), there are millions of still-functioning older toilets across the country that use 3.5 to as much as eight GPF.
When one of these toilets is flushed, a flush valve or flush tank is activated, and water is released through holes in the toilet bowl rim. As water washes down the side of the bowl, gravity pulls the water to the bottom, removing waste. Post-1992 toilets use about half the amount of water as older toilets, and the fixture trap at the bottom of the toilet is enlarged to allow for quicker and more thorough removal.
More advanced and conserving toilets (high—efficiency toilets (HETs) are being introduced with better pressure-assisted flush valves in the tank. These units are airtight and use pressurized air to rapidly push the water out of the tank, which delivers a much faster and more powerful flush than a standard gravity-fed toilet. The latest versions of these toilets use only about one GPF, about 35 percent less water than conventional toilets, and as much as 80 percent less water than toilets manufactured thirty years ago.
Waterless Urinals
Waterless or no-flush urinal systems are also making headway in facilities. This technology is not new. Some of the earliest waterless systems were first seen in Europe about a hundred years ago. But with drought in the U.S. and worldwide, they certainly are garnering more attention.
In addition to the Green movement, LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification is another reason waterless urinals are on the radar screens of many property developers and managers. By reducing indoor water consumption with waterless urinals, developers and managers can gain points toward LEED certification. And there can be direct money savings as well. Some cities offer commercial rebates to building owners to install water-conserving devices such as waterless urinals.
Waterless urinals are manufactured by five or six companies in the United States. Although they look similar to conventional urinals, the most obvious difference is they have no flush valves or metal plumbing. This is how they work:
· Gravity drains the urine into a trap cylinder that sits atop the drain area.
· The trap cylinder (on most units) is filled with a thin layer of liquid sealant that prevents odors from escaping.
· Urine eventually flows into a drainpipe connected to the urinal—similar to conventional urinals—with each use.
We often forget that electricity pumps water into and out of a facility or up floors in high-rise buildings. Waterless systems and other water-reducing fixtures can cut energy costs significantly. Waterless units can also save building owners considerable sums in electricity.
These water-reducing systems, on-demand faucets, low-flow toilets, and no-water urinals are expected to become much more common in the near future in all types of facilities.
Klaus Reichardt is CEO and founder of Waterless Co, Inc, Vista, Calif. Reichardt founded the company in 1991 to establish a new market segment in the plumbing fixture industry with water efficiency in mind. Reichardt is a frequent writer and presenter, discussing water conservation issues. He can be reached at klaus@waterless.com.
