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Waterless urinals part of schools' conservation efforts
By: RANI GUPTA - The Californian | ∞
SOUTHWEST RIVERSIDE COUNTY - There soon could be a lot less flushing in Temecula school bathrooms.
The Temecula Valley Unified School District is changing the urinals in all of its schools to a waterless variety that is expected to save the district about 1.6 gallons of water each time they are used. Over the course of a year, that could add up to nearly 8 million gallons, according to Gaylon Holland, the district's maintenance and operations director.
The waterless urinals are among the measures school districts in Southwest Riverside County are taking to reduce water use in the face of growing pressure to conserve.
Increasingly, schools are planting drought-resistant plants or watering vegetation with treated wastewater unsuitable for drinking.
The Murrieta Valley Unified School District, for instance, recently installed synthetic turf on athletic fields at its two high schools, Vista Murrieta and Murrieta Valley, spokeswoman Karen Parris said. The district also controls irrigation at its schools from a central computer system that is used to monitor overall water use at remote school sites.
School officials say the efforts to conserve water stem in large part from a sense of responsibility. Holland, for instance, said he regularly tracks the weather, and California's prolonged drought is frequently on his mind.
"I have two children, and I tell them I want to leave them a few trees," he said.
Local schools also have economic incentives to keep water use low.
Any commercial landscaping area in the Eastern Municipal Water District - which runs from Murrieta to Moreno Valley east of Interstate 215 - is subject to an annual water allowance, said Melanie Nieman, the district's director of community involvement. If schools or other businesses exceed the limits, they can be penalized.
Schools that take eco-friendly steps, on the other hand, can be rewarded through grants and rebates.
A rebate program that will pay for the installation of the waterless urinals in all of Temecula's schools made the decision to switch a no-brainer, Holland said. "It's costing the district absolutely no money," he said.
Holland doesn't expect the district to save much money by going waterless, but said conservative estimates put the district's water savings at 7.8 million gallons each year.
The district already had about 165 waterless urinals in various locations, including Tony Tobin Elementary, and was pleased with the results, Holland said. The urinals use chemical cartridges to break down the urine and turn it into nontoxic liquids that then drain out of the urinals without flushing.
In the Lake Elsinore Unified School District, waterless urinals are being tested in Elsinore and Lakeside high schools and the district plans to gradually place them in all schools throughout the next several years, spokesman Jose Carvajal said. The Menifee Union School District also plans to replace all its urinals with waterless ones during winter break, spokeswoman Betti Cadmus said.
"That's going to be a huge savings of water," Cadmus said.
The plumbers union, however, has opposed waterless urinals and said they are unsafe. David Otterstein of the United Association of Plumbers & Steamfitters Local 230 did not return calls for comment. But last year, he told San Diego County Water Authority board members that he believes the waterless urinals could spread disease.
Holland said the Temecula school district has thoroughly researched the issue and is confident the waterless urinals are not only safe but odorless, as long as facilities officials take care of them.
"That's a typical ploy," Holland said of the plumbers union's opposition. "They're losing business, so they're going to oppose it."
The Eastern Municipal Water District, which offers rebates to businesses that switch to waterless urinals, also believes the toilets are not dangerous.
"It all comes down to proper maintenance," Nieman said.
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Mike wrote on Dec 1, 2007 8:47 PM:How do you save 7.8 million gallons of water a year but do not save any money??? Is TVUSD going to try to hide that money?
ModernRock wrote on Dec 1, 2007 11:23 PM:Another over reaction by the TUSD. While ignoring the studies conducted that these urinals spread diseases. I smell (no pun intended) a lawsuit.
matt wrote on Dec 1, 2007 11:46 PM:i was thinking the same thing as mike! how is that possible to not save money when you are saving millions of gallons of water?
Brock wrote on Dec 2, 2007 5:34 AM:More than likely the cost of the "non-toxic" chemicals used far exceeds the cost of the water saved. As usual, the article is full of quotes and very little actual information about the subject of the article. We get some understanding about who said what, but not much about the subject. Isn't that the way journalism is supposed to work?
Zygo wrote on Dec 2, 2007 6:22 AM:I'm also a little curious about the dig at plumbers. How will plumbers lose business? Plumbers will install them (that is great business) and unless they are completely maintenance free (which the article did not mention), plumbers will repair them.
water's cheap wrote on Dec 2, 2007 8:21 AM:7.8 million gallons is about 22 acre-feet of water. An acre-foor of water is somewhere around $400 (last time I saw a price...), so the district is saving a whopping $8,800 a year. Yep, guys, that's some conspiracy all right. Call in the FBI!! Jeez, the district does something environmentally responsible and all anyone can do is accuse them of ripping off the taxpayer. Of course, it might have helped if the reporter has done some of this basic math for the reader, too.
Less parts. wrote on Dec 2, 2007 10:14 AM:The Union is bent because there's no Sloan valves, no high pressure valve that blasts the water in the thing, only a gravity fed drain. 90% of the service calls are to fix the flush valve. Unions loose. Of course they are opposed to it.
Phil wrote on Dec 2, 2007 12:21 PM:Waterless urinals are the best invention since the first urinals were made. What a great idea, from using 5 gallons per flush to zero, what’s not to like. I have been to the Storm Stadium in Lake Elsinore and to other public restrooms that use them. To me it just shows good stewardship of our precious natural recourses.
Thomas wrote on Dec 2, 2007 3:21 PM:What's the big deal? It's a urinal! I've seen them around for years, the don't smell, at least not the ones I've used. Seems like a no brainer.
steve wrote on Dec 3, 2007 7:15 AM:OK one down for the boys room... what about the girls room... I saw a vacuim toilet system about 20 years ago in another country.. never in the USA ...codes are written into law to protect us from ourselves.. How about fiber optic sun lighting and save some cost on electrical use???? Then what happens to our $$ and jobs?? Time to retool and start anew...
Karl wrote on Dec 3, 2007 7:51 AM: As a contractor I have had these urinals installed on 4 projects. All four have been replaced by the old fashioned ones because of complaints of "smell". I hope that the technology advances and the manufacturers can fix the smell" problem.
What? wrote on Dec 3, 2007 12:37 PM:As usaul the posters tend to exaggerate things to make their arguments sound better. Phil please reread the story. It states "expected to save the district about 1.6 gallons of water each time they are used" Not 5 gallons. I also have to laugh at the conspiracy theorists. I would guess these are a zero sum change. No savings once you include maintenance costs. I don't understand why the plumbers union would care. These seem like they would plug up as often as regular urinals. Besides aren't all plumbing issues taken care of by district facilities workers? I am also not buying that 90% of calls are for the "sloan valves" In a school setting I would bet that 90% of calls are for clogged drains due to students putting things other than urine into the urinals. Everyone has an axe to grind and will say whatever they think will convince others that their axe is the right one to grind. Silly humans.
Temecula Teacher wrote on Dec 3, 2007 8:25 PM:I work at a school in Temecula, we recently had these installed. Funny thing, though, we have a bad drain problem with dry drains, no draining drains, etc...it really smells. Don't you think this will make it worse, not better, with less water going throught the dry, smelly drains? The boys and girls locker rooms smell like raw sewage is seeping in from somewhere...it makes lots of kids and teachers sick, but instead pf fixing this, they buy waterless urinals..."student centered, first, last..." yea, right!!!
Learning Experience wrote on Dec 5, 2007 3:44 PM:This is a real cultural learning opportunity for spoiled American kids. They'll all know now what it's like not to have the modern conveniences of indoor plumbing and flushing porcelain facilities, just like their counterparts south of the border!
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