The newest trend in plumbing fixtures is waterless toilets and urinals. But for this article the waterless is actually the brand name of these urinals. Waterless is a fairly new company by industry standards. They have been in business since 1991. Since the company’s inception they have been the leader in waterless technology. The company offers the simplest and the most cost effective way to use a urinal or toilet without using water or flush valves.
What makes these systems different than others is that they are touch free and they use the Waterless System called the No-Flush Technology. These urinals are easy to install. These urinals will not cause odors or decrease the sanitation levels in the bathroom. These are hygienic and safe to use. The idea behind Waterless designs is that they help homeowners save money. With this system of using no water, it will save you money on your water bills on a yearly basis.
You can actually save anywhere from 45,000 gallons of water a year to 1,000,000 gallons per year. Just here in the United States there are about 8 million urinals being installed every day and over 100 million men using them. Due to new laws and regulations on water conservation and the entire green movement, these waterless urinals are just what the world needs. Can you imagine what would happen if everyone went Waterless? Let’s take a look and see what makes Waterless and waterless products so different.
About The Waterless EcoTrap
The reason why these waterless urinals are becoming so popular is that people’s understanding of the way the waterless system works is changing. One of the methods used on the Waterless products is the EcoTrap System. This system is patented by Waterless and it is tried and proven method of using the vertical trap method without water. First the urine will travel down into the EcoTrap drain insert. Then the EcoTrap will help pass the urine down through a layer called the Blue Seal Liquid, which is a floating layer in the urinal. This technology will help eliminate odors from escaping back into the rest room.
Then the urine that becomes trapped under the Blue Seal Liquid will overflow into the main tube and will pass through the standard drain line. In true conservation fashion, only about 3 ounces of the Blue Seal technology will last for 1500 sanitary uses. Then the liquid will be replaced. It takes about 20 seconds; compare that to water used urinal that needs maintenance. The best part is that the trap doesn’t need to be touched. The EcoTrap will hold the urine sediments and will be replaced 2 to 4 times a year. The more the system is used you may want to increase the replacement time. You will have to use the X-Traptor, which is used to remove the EcoTrap. This entire process takes 3 to 4 minutes. The entire process is virtually maintenance free and what little service has to be done can be performed in less than 10 minutes.
Waterless Urninal High Performance Product Line
The Waterless urinals are becoming more popular and the company Waterless has many great products to offer. There are three different waterless urinals that we will be profiling. The KALAHARI Model 2003, the KALAHARI Model 2003B and the SONARA Model 2004. These are premier sellers in the Waterless Product Line. The KALAHARI Model 2003 is a high performance composite urinal. This waterless urinal is about 18 inches in Width x 28 inches in length x 10 inches in diameter. This style of urinal meets the ANSI Z124.9 with CSA and other requirements. This urinal comes with two EcoTrap Inserts and comes with mounting hardware, gaskets as well as installation instructions that will save you money on hiring someone to install them.
The KALAHARI Model 2003B is a Bottom Drain Urinal that comes with the standard EcoTraps Inserts. This waterless urinal is the same size as the KALAHARI 2003 and 2003B. This urinal is ADA compliant and comes with the two EcoTrap inserts. Now all three urinals come with the all wall drain No Flush System. There are adapters needed for plumbing connections. These urinals all have a complete 2″ interior drain line. This system provides easy access to cleaning if it needs it.
There are no O-rings or gaskets needed. The EcoTrap is easy to install and uses a pressfit. The EcoTrap comes apart easily for servicing and for any change out parts. These urinals are available in Solid or Granite Colors. The price will vary depending on which color you use. Any one of these three waterless urinals can help save you money.
Waterless Urinal Advantages
You may think that the Waterless No Flush Urinals have the one advantage of saving money on water. There are other advantages of using the Waterless waterless urinals. One of these advantages is that there are no urine odors, the system works with the Blue Seal Technology, which works by trapping the urine below the liquid, which then travels through the pipes. Another advantage is the costly flush sensors; since this is a no flush system there are no sensors to break. You will also find that these waterless urinals will not cause stoppages or overflows of the urinals. Water is often the cause of overflows since the debris or waste stop up the water. But without water there won’t be any messy cleanups. You will save money on even the lowest water pressure systems. There is a high demand on the septic tanks when you use standard urinals but not with the waterless systems.
In addition to less wear and tear on your pipes, you will find that the Waterless waterless urinals can actually improve the IAQ that stands for the Indoor Air Quality and can even lower or eliminate the winterization costs. The Blue Seal Liquid won’t ever evaporate. This system is almost foolproof, there is no water to worry about overflows and there are no septic tank overflows either. You won’t find any bathroom shut downs, leaking flush valves or loss of water pressure either.
How To Install The Waterless Urinal
The Waterless Urinal Installation can be installed with the new plumbing codes. These plumbing codes require the non-ADA urinal lip be installed to a floor height of 24″ and for ADA installs the requirement is 17″. To install the Non ADA urinals you will need to calculate the right rough in height for Non ADA urinals, you will need to measure the distance on the current urinal from the bottom of the screws on the floor. Then by using your urinal specification sheet provided by Waterless you can determine the correct rough in height. The ADA installations require the correct rough in as well. This method is the same as the Non ADA installations. All of the urinals come with everything you need to install your urinal; there are no extra trips to the hardware store. Depending on your system, a simple retrofit can take as much as 45 to 60 minutes to change. A lower retrofit urinal rough in takes 90 to 120 minutes and completely new installs can take from 15 to 25 minutes.
Even with the lower retrofit time of 120 minutes maximum it is still less time than urinals that use water. There are no water lines to connect to. If you have trouble with installations it would take a professional plumber about an hour for the lower rough in installations. Now that you have seen the Waterless Urinal Products, how they work and what it takes to install, you should consider looking into buying them. They are easy to maintain, easy to clean and they are reasonably priced. These urinals are Eco Friendly and they would surprise you to see how advantageous they are. You can eliminate overflows, stoppages as well as high water bills and calls to the local plumber can be eliminated all together. The three top sellers are the KALAHARI Model 2003, the KALAHARI Model 2003B and the SONARA 2400.
These urinals are easy to install and they do not require a lot of maintenance. Before you go out and buy standard urinals, take a look at the website and see the complete install manual as well as the specification sheets too. If you are looking to save water on a yearly basis and you want a urinal that can pretty much take care of itself then the Waterless waterless Urinals are the way to go.
