How do waterless urinals operate

The seal that it creates also keeps the smell of urine that is sitting in the trap for long periods of time from escaping.

Also, since no flush is needed to empty out the urinal, there is no chance that urine will pool in the bowl. Waterless urinals have ultra-smooth bowls designed with a steep enough slope that all liquid will flow directly down into the reservoir without pooling up [source: Waterless ].

At the point that it leaves the body, urine is mostly sterile. In a normal toilet, it is actually the mixing of urine and water , not the urine alone, that encourages bacteria to grow and spread [source: Reichardt ]. Once the particulates and minerals in urine react with the minerals and chemicals in water, bacteria begin to thrive. Since there is no water introduced in a waterless urinal, there is less bacteria growth.

The sealant in a urinal also keeps it from being exposed to air, where bacteria travels and spreads. Flushing urinals can also send small water droplets into the air, which can spread bacteria throughout the bathroom and even onto your hands or clothes [source: Waterless ].

Waterless urinals don't create that problem. Still, like any bathroom fixture, you need to clean waterless urinals regularly to make sure they stay clean and bacteria doesn't find a place to latch on and grow. Cleaning them is relatively simple: You can use a household cleaning solution and a sponge or cloth to wipe down the exterior surfaces [source: Zero Flush ]. Waterless urinals are truly waterless. They don't use some water , or a little water. They use no water. So the amount of water you can conserve by installing one is essentially equal to the amount of water used by the urinal it replaces.

Most urinals in use today use somewhere between 1 and 3 gallons 3. That variance is so large because older urinals use a lot more water, and newer ones tend to use less because of an increased focus on conservation. Urinals produced during the s and '00s use closer to 1 or 1. Some extremely low-flow fixtures use even less. Older urinals can use closer to 3 or 3. Other variables include the amount of use the urinal gets.

A urinal in a busy office where plus men work will use more water than one located in a small restaurant or gas station. Taking all of the variables into account, a single urinal in a workplace with a few dozen employees can save about 45, gallons about , liters of water per year [source: Stumpf ]. The vast majority of waterless urinal manufacturers design their fixtures to fit with conventional plumbing systems [source: Stumpf ].

Many large fixture producers, like Kohler and Sloan, even have their own waterless toilet lines. Of course, it makes business sense to keep them adaptable since waterless urinals can be a tough enough sell as it is, for some. Specifically, waterless urinals usually fit standard 2-inch drainage lines , or can be adapted to fit 1. Since they don't need any water for flushing, they don't need to be hooked up to a second line for potable water supply.

If you've ever seen a waterless urinal, you might have noticed a pipe protruding from the wall above it, with apparently no purpose. That pipe is the unused water supply line, which needs to be capped when waterless urinals are installed to replace traditional urinals. Since waste water won't be flushed out with a fast moving stream of water, the pipes leading from the urinals to your waste line need to be sloped enough that waste can drain out easily.

Those pipes need to have a slope of at least a quarter of an inch per foot [source: Stumpf ]. If the lines aren't sloped enough, they will have to be modified, which involves replacing the few feet or less of pipe leading from the bottom of the urinal to the main waste line [source: Falcon]. Compared to flushing urinals, waterless urinals need less maintenance. Manufacturers frequently point out in their promotional materials that their urinals very rarely leak, and don't have valves or handles that need to be replaced [source: Waterless ].

All of that is true, but they do need special regular maintenance to keep them working properly. The sealant liquid needs to be replaced every 1, uses two to four times a year [source: Reichardt ]. Small amounts of it seep down the drain with the urine, depleting the sealant over time. Some waterless urinals also have removable trap cartridges. Depending on the brand of urinal, those cartridges need to be either removed and cleaned, or disposed of and replaced. Understanding the Negative Implications of Using Water Containing Limescale to Flush Urinals Most parts of the UK are supplied with 'hard' water that contains enough limescale to cause problems in urinals.

Avoiding Potential Pitfalls of Waterless Urinals. The benefits from waterless urinals come from not having to use potable water that is costly to buy, requires CO2 emissions to produce, and deposits limescale in pipes. All waterless urinals will obviously save the same amount of water and give these benefits. However, there are potential pitfalls. The lower the cost of the waterless urinals, the more likely it is that savings will exceed those costs.

It is important to assess the total cost of a waterless urinal solution over 1 to 3 years. Note that some suppliers may not be keen to reveal all the ongoing costs at time of sale.

The total ongoing cost will include:. To project total savings, an assessment of current water use at the site is required, because Therefore making a reasonable assessment of these water savings will be the most important factor determining whether waterless urinals will actually save money for your site.

For guidance on assessing water savings, please click here. Other savings, often very significant, will usually come from the reduced maintenance that most waterless urinal designs require compared with flushed urinals..

Home :: Waterless Urinals Benefits and Pitfalls. The total ongoing cost will include: implementation of waterless urinal solution - parts and labour consumables and frequency of replacement original supplier or 3rd party servicing charges, where applicable changes to cleaning regime - labour and consumables To project total savings, an assessment of current water use at the site is required, because Based on Gentworks survey data from hundreds of sites, the average annual water use per urinal is approximately cubic metres m 3 per year.

However, usage varies from around 29m 3 to m 3 , depending on the level of flush control already implemented. Urinals with properly calibrated flush controllers will typically be using less than 50m 3 per year. The products offer great benefit for washrooms and shower rooms for public, semi-public and health sector. Robert lives the brand and its USPs and loves to support and motivate his team on a daily basis. He believes that business today is not just about being a profitable silo in itself, but also about how we contribute to society — and this is one of his passions, to work with industry, find new solutions that support productivity and employee happiness and welfare within the workplace.

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Enter your details to download our guide to saving water in your business. Home Main navigation. Oil or chemical cartridges - urine passes through a oil or chemical-based barrier which is then supposed to form a seal which reduces odours.

Using this system requires expensive cartridges to be replaced every few months, and the maintenance costs are high, particularly since the oil seal can easily be accidentally broken, for example by a cleaner washing a bucket of water down the urinal. Sleeve technology - urine passes through a sleeve and then through a seal into the waste system.

Using this system can also be expensive as the sleeves need to be regularly replaced. Plus the seal needs to remain moist which can lead to some hygiene and odour issues. How does the MB ActiveTrap work? Collected urine is channelled via a funnel into the odour trap and runs through the vertically positioned membrane into the sewage system. As soon as urine stops flowing, the membrane closes and in this way prevents gases from the sewage system from escaping.

The integrated MB ActiveCube improves hygiene, reduces deposits and prevents the inside of the odour trap and the waste pipe becoming encrusted with organic matter, urine deposits and fats. After the MB ActiveCube has dissolved, the red surface beneath the transparent cover signals that the odour trap needs replacing. The vertical membrane technology guarantees that odours are completely sealed away and can withstand both negative and positive pressures, so it is impossible for gases from the sewage system to escape.

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