Waterless Urinals: Making Water Savings A Reality

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When the Third Creek Elementary School opened in Statesville, N.C., a few years ago, the 92,000-square-foot school earned 39 points and was awarded Gold Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification.

Helping it earn “the Gold” was the fact that the school was able to reduce water use by as much as 30 percent, compared to a comparable school of the same size, staff, and students. According to Rob Jackson, the building supervisor, the reductions were the result of installing one-gallon-per-flush toilets; low-flow, push-rod faucets that stay on for only three to five seconds; and urinals manufactured by Waterless Co., LLC.

Waterless No-Flush™ urinals look just like conventional urinals but as the name implies use no water. Instead, they utilize a removable, recyclable plastic insert placed atop the urinal’s drain. The insert contains a biodegradable liquid sealant that collects urine and prevents odors. Eventually, the urine flows from the insert into a standard drainpipe, just as with conventional urinals.

On top of saving water, Waterless urinals have also helped many school districts reduce plumbing and maintenance costs. And vandalism of urinal flush handles is eliminated because Waterless systems have no such handles.

“Since the installation of the Waterless urinals, we have had no maintenance problems,” says Jackson. “In fact, we have been so satisfied that we would like to put Waterless urinals into all [our] new school buildings.”