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Waterfree Technology
‘Intriguing’ Concept Brings Cost, Health Benefits to SoCal
School
B Y
RANDY
GOBLE
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In sunny Southern California,
water conservation has been a priority for government,
businesses and residents for many years. In fact, many of the
strategic water conservation plans and policies being
implemented today across U.S. cities – such as Atlanta which
experienced a historic drought this past summer – are based on
those developed in California more than a decade ago.
In addition, several of the early, innovative
water conservation products available in the marketplace today
had already been put to the test in Southern California years
ago.
One of the earliest adopters of waterfree
technology is the Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District.
Located southeast of Los Angeles, the school system is home to
more than 27,000 students through 23 elementary, five middle and
four high schools.
Eight years ago, Steve Marani, assistant
director of maintenance, was immediately intrigued by the
concept of a waterfree urinal
by
Falcon Waterfree.
“It was pretty new and there were some questions
at first. But I was eager to see the water savings and how the
product would stand up to the ‘kid test’ – when kids throw
things into the urinal plugging the drain and causing stoppage.”
Seven years later, those original few waterfree
urinals are still there “and working perfectly,” said Marani.
Passing the high expectations for both water conservation and
the kid test. That initial installation has since led Marani and
his team to request additional waterfree urinals. Today, there
are more than 400 Falcon Waterfree urinals installed in the 32
schools within the district.
“If you do the math, we’re saving more than 10
million gallons of water per year. Of course as we add more
urinals, the water savings will continue to increase,” Marani
said. “We were one of the first major schools systems in the
country to try the technology, and every year we install more
urinals. I’m proud to say that
nearly a
decade since our first installation, the Falcon urinals have
become the standard for our restroom renovation and new
construction projects.”
Saving Maintenance Costs… and
Headaches Too
In addition to reducing water
use, Marani and members of the school system’s janitorial staff
say the waterfree urinals also help reduce unwanted headaches
that typically come with the maintenance time and costs
associated with traditional flush system urinals.
In fact, according to Marani,
the school system has not had a single stoppage with any of the
waterfree urinals.
“It used to be that you always
knew when the school provided apples or oranges with the kids’
lunches because they would always wind up in the urinals
plugging the drains,” Marani said. “The kids would think it was
pretty funny, but we don’t laugh when the phone rings with
reports of plugged urinals.”
“Looking at the bigger
picture, this is one of the biggest benefits for us: we no
longer have urinal emergencies; no leaks, plugs or floods.”
Plant Coordinator Jorge Fierro agrees. “The thing I like about
the waterfree urinals is that they are maintenance free. There
are no flush valves, so you’ve eliminated all the work that goes
with that.”
In addition to the elimination
of valuable maintenance staff time and money spent on unneeded
urinal emergency issues, the overall routine maintenance of a
waterfree urinal is easier too. “Regular maintenance is quite
simple, really,” says Marani. “The urinal bowls are cleaned
every day, the same frequency as you would have for a flush
urinal. If there’s any debris in the urinal, it’s simply wiped
out, which is far better than having to unplug a urinal drain.”
Better Hygiene
Beyond the reduced maintenance
emergencies, the water savings and cost benefits, the
Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District is also reaping
another important benefit that directly impacts schools:
increased public restroom hygiene. Independent studies have
shown that restrooms with flush type urinals are far more likely
to be colonized by bacteria because of the greater presence of
moisture. What’s more, restrooms with flush urinals cause
widespread dissemination of microorganisms from the generation
of aerosols during flushing.
Elementary, middle and senior
high schools can often be a place where colds and other
illnesses pass from one child to another quickly. With a
touch-free and waterless urinal, this risk is diminished.
“The flush systems have high
bacterial issues, that’s why you find a lot of people not
flushing, or in some case, using something other than their bare
hands to flush urinals or toilets,” Marani said.
“For me, waterfree urinals are
absolutely the right thing. And the point that really wins me
over is the elimination of urinal emergencies related to
maintenance and clogging issues. But it’s also great that we’re
doing our part to conserve water. There’s never any question
about whether or not to try something new to conserve water,
especially if it doesn’t add to your costs.”
❑
Randy Goble
is director of marketing communications for Falcon Waterfree
Technologies, maker of waterless urinals.
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