Hey! Take our Water Conservation Test

Bet you know a lot about water conservation?  After all, if you’re reading our blog, then water-conservation and using water more efficiently is important to you.

But how about if we take a little test to see how swift you really are, when it comes to water.

Don’t worry.  This is an easy test, and I’m sure you will pass with flying colors (chuckle, chuckle).

So, let’s begin. 

The answers are below (no cheating).

1) We know that more than 70 percent of the earth’s surface is covered with water. But how much of that water is available for everyday use for people around the globe?

·        1 percent

·        10 percent

·        20 percent

·        25 percent

2) You’re trying to reduce water consumption but can’t decide whether to take a five-minute shower or a five-minute bath.  Which do you think uses less water?

·        The five-minute shower

·        The five-minute bath.

3) You’ve just finished dinner and are wondering, which uses more water

·        Washing the dinner dishes

·        Brushing your teeth

·        Fixing that leaky toilet in the guest bedroom

·        Taking a long shower.

4) Your spouse wants you to go around the house and fix all the household water leaks.  She says we can save money and water. But you think she is just trying to get you and the guys away from the game on TV this Sunday.  But then you ask yourself, how much money could we save if I fixed all the water leaks?

·        Eight percent off the monthly water bill

·        Ten percent

·        18 percent

·        Just one percent.

5) You are the manager of a large office building and recently had all the old toilets removed. Instead of installing new toilets with automatic sensors, you decide to install dual-flush toilets.  Dual-flush toilets cost less because there is no sensor and reportedly use about 20 percent less water.  A few months later, you are anxious to see how much water you are saving.  Here is what you find:

·        The dual-flush toilets have reduced water consumption by 20 percent.

·        There has only been a five percent reduction in water consumption.

·        Water consumption has gone up.

·        There has been no change.

6) The building manager we just mentioned has decided to remove all the old, flush urinals and install waterless urinals. She has narrowed her choice to three leading manufacturers.  The urinals look about the same and cost about the same, making her decision difficult. To help her make up her mind, you suggest one of the following:

·        Select the model that costs the least amount of money to install.

·        Select the newest brand. You tell her “new” often means “improved.”

·        Select the brand that costs the least to own.

·        Select the brand offering the best warranty.

Answers:

1.   Less than one percent

2.   A five-minute shower uses 10 to 25 gallons of water.  A bath, whether five minutes of 50 minutes, uses about 70 gallons of water.

3.   Leaky toilet. It is estimated that a leaking toilet can waste as much as 200 gallons of water every day.

4.   When all water leaks are eliminated in a home, it can reduce the monthly water bill by about eight percent.

5.   Recent studies indicate that dual-flush toilets waste large amounts of water due to how the dual-flush mechanism is designed.  Because of this, water consumption often goes up.

6.   While there are price ranges, no-water urinals can cost about the same and have about the same warranty.  However, only the Waterless brand is the least expensive to own. This is because its EcoTrap cylinder lasts longer than other brands and is also less costly.

Surprising Ways Hospitals Can Cut Operating Costs

Photo by Martha Dominguez de Gouveia on Unsplash

Unbelievably, with so many people that have been in the hospital, many hospitals in the country are just scraping by.

And even though health care costs have been going up and up, so have hospital operating expenses. And COVID has made things worse.  Hospitals make the bulk of their money on different surgical procedures.  All but the most serious have been put on hold due to the virus.

So, this means hospitals must cut costs to stay solvent, especially now.

Here are some surprising ways they can make this happen:

Forget overnight shipping. Some vendors automatically ship supplies to hospitals overnight.  However, unlike retailers that serve consumers, the costs to overnight hospital supplies are often added to the shipping costs.  Order supplies well in advance of running low.  Standard shipping, which may be free and take a few days, should suffice.

Buy when they cry. Again, related to supplies, too many hospital purchasing departments put ordering on automatic pilot: the hospital's computers automatically order supplies when they need to be replenished.  A much better option is to have the computer signal purchasers that it might be time to start shopping – and compare prices - for individual items. Take advantage of distributor or manufacturer discounts.  According to one hospital administrator, “we buy when they cry” – meaning when the vendor is hungry to make a sale.

Start a wellness program. Health insurance to cover hospital employees is going up just like everyone else's.  A hospital in Ashville, North Carolina, started a wellness program, coaching its staff on watching their weight, preventing diabetes and asthma, and ways to lift and carry to protect their back and ligaments.  The result: their health insurance costs went down 15 percent in a year. Why? "Our employees were better able to take care of themselves and their health,” said a spokesperson with the hospital.

Create a Kaizen team. A hospital in Royal Oak, Mich., started a "Kaizen" team.  Kaizen, in Japanese, means “continuous improvement.” Their job was to walk the entire hospital campus once per month, looking for plants and vegetation that could be swapped out for native plants that use less water. Doing so helped them "turn off the sprinklers¸ and that saved [us] 500,000 gallons of water every year, along with the costs of that water,” said Kay Winokur with the Kaizen team at the hospital. "Unless you go out and walk, you won't notice these things,"

Go waterless.  While there are no "averages," let's say a hospital has three men's rooms per floor, each with three urinals. The hospital is ten stories high.  That means there are 90 urinals in this hospital.  If each of those urinals is replaced with a waterless urinal, the hospital will save more than three million gallons of water annually - a massive water saving - which quickly translates into dollars-and-cents savings. The Michigan hospital mentioned earlier, replaced all inefficient urinals, sinks, and toilets.  The cost savings: $257,000 annually.

Turn off the coffee pots. While looking for water savings, the Kaizen team found that the hospital had 110 commercial-sized coffee pots, all with heated water and all running 24 hours per day.  That might have been helpful during the day, but by evening and over the weekend, half the hospital staff had gone home. "The Kaizen team suggested using timers on all coffee pots," said Winokur. "Now, coffeepots are shut down when employees leave for the day, and they restart an hour before employees arrive in the morning. This saved us $34,000 a year."

Winokur also advises hospital administrators to look around, looking for savings. "We wouldn't have gotten [these savings] if we didn't go and observe. Look at everything that is plugged in, draws energy, or uses water. There are always ways to save."

Water Terms and Terminology Part II

If you hear someone tell you the water to be delivered to your facility is currently in a “holding tank,” best call the health authorities as quickly as possible.  Water in a holding tank is invariably wastewater. Not only that, its wastewater being stored before it is delivered to a treatment center, so you do not want to be drinking it.

This gives you an idea of how important it is to know your terms and terminology regarding water. Some more terms you should be aware of – and their definitions – include the following:

Hydrologic cycle. Many things in nature follow a cycle.  They move from one form to another and then back again. In the case of the hydrologic cycle, it involves the movement of water from the earth, which evaporates from oceans and waterways, returning to the atmosphere.  From there, it eventually returns back to earth in the form of moisture, where it is absorbed by vegetation or turns into rainfall.

Induced charge.  In our earlier “terms and terminology” blog, we discussed aquifers.  Because so many are now running dry, there is an attempt to replenish them.  This is called an induced charge.

Inorganic substances. Sometimes we hear that water contains inorganic substances.  These are substances not derived from organic matter.  We should add that just because water may contain inorganic substances does not necessarily mean it is unsafe to drink.  Nor are substances that are organic, derived from nature, always safe to drink.  Safety, at this juncture, is not the issue. Instead, it’s whether these substances are inorganic or organic.

Lagoon.  When we hear the word “lagoon,” we often picture a lovely pond.  However, lagoon usually refers to wastewater, especially useful when treating manure from livestock. The lagoon helps breakdown bacteria in the waste.  By the way, a pond is just a body of water smaller than a lake. 

Leachate. Here’s one you probably have not heard before. Leachate refers to a liquid formed when water soaks into and through landfills.  In the process, it picks up and dissolves materials found in waste.  This means it helps break down waste.

Lust.  Don’t get carried away.  Lust has little to do with water and is not something you want to play around with.  A Leaking Underground Storage Tank – LUST – if often used to store gasoline, diesel fuel, heating oil, and liquid chemicals.  When there is LUST, it means the container is leaking.

Losing stream. You may have read this as losing “steam.”  While we all have days when we feel like we are losing steam, when it comes to losing “stream,” it means that streams of water are disappearing. They are flowing into an aquifer below the earth’s surface.

Percolate. When we see water percolating in a natural environment, it means the water is coming to the top of a mound or through rocks, for instance, but then seeping down that mound or the rocks through pores in the nearby surface.

pH. All liquids have a pH. This refers to the concentration of hydrogen ion in the liquid.  A pH scale runs from 0 to 14.  Values less than seven are acidic, and values greater than seven are alkaline. 

Waterless urinals. These urinals, as the name implies, use no-water.  As they are used, gravity moves urine down the urinal into the sewer below.  A trap or cylinder at the base of the urinal blocks sewer odors, helping to keep the urinal and the restroom odor-free, clean, and sanitary.

Water conservation/Water efficiency. These are two separate terms and do not mean the same thing.  Water conservation is short term scaling back on water consumption, for instance, during a drought.  Water efficiency, on the other hand, refers to long term water reduction. It typically involves installing restroom fixtures that use far less water or no water at all compared to traditional fixtures.

A Lasting Impact Around the Globe by Qatar's Latest Architectural Feat

Image: TalkSport.com

During the month of August, the average temperature in Qatar reaches 105 degrees. The sweltering sun scorches the pavement as the air turns sticky with humidity. It’s safe to say this desert climate can be brutal, which is what makes the logistics of designing buildings in Qatar so important. The third tournament venue for the 2022 FIFA World Cup happening in Qatar, during the much cooler months of November and December, has recently been completed. The Education City Stadium has been dubbed “Diamond in the Desert,” for the façade’s diamond-like triangular patterns that sparkle in the sun.

Located inside the Qatar Foundation University Campus, it will hold 40,000 soccer fans for the games. But the excitement over the stadium will continue once the soccer tournament ends. After the final goal of the FIFA World Cup, 20,000 seats will be donated to countries that lack sporting infrastructure and university students will have full access to the stadium.

To read more from Architectural Digest.com, click here.

Preventing Faulty Drainpipes in a Canadian Hospital from Spreading Disease

Right before the Royal Jubilee Hospital was officially opened in Canada in 2004, alarm bells started ringing.  It was discovered that there were more than 100 defective floor drains in the hospital. If the hospital had been fully opened, "it could have put patients and staff at risk for severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)," according to a local news reporter, Malcolm Curtis.

Fortunately, the situation was discovered and rectified soon enough that no illness was linked to the floor drain problem.  What was happening, was that the drains on all floors in the hospital's diagnostic and treatment center, were inundated with what was called "smelly sewer gases escaping into the building," according to the reporter.

“The gases could contain viruses such as severe acute respiratory syndrome that can be transmitted through breathing, although hospital officials denied that patients were at risk."

As you probably know, the Hong Kong SARS epidemic was ending at about this same time. By then, nearly 800 people had died of the disease. When public health officials and others investigated the cause of the epidemic, they found it centered around one exceptionally large apartment complex, called the Amoy Apartments.  

Apparently, what was happening is that sewer odor fumes, containing the pathogens that caused SARS, were being released through some of the apartment sink and floor drains. This occurred because the P-traps in these apartments, which generally were filled with water, had dried up. This literally opened the door to the sewer - and its odors and pathogens - below the building.

The building soon became the epicenter of the disease.

Concerns are now mounting today that something similar could happen with coronavirus. The pathogens that cause coronavirus are also being found in wastewater. This means that if the water in P-traps has evaporated, coronavirus pathogens could also be inhaled, spreading the disease and possibly causing even more deaths. 

As for the Royal Jubilee Hospital, it appeared that the original drainpipes were not designed properly. To prevent sewer gasses from being released, the hospital staff was pouring water down the drains as often as once per day.  This was not practical.  As a result, hospital engineers began installing new drainpipes along with devices called “trap primer valves” under the more than 100 floor drains.

A trap primer valve is a plumbing device that adds a small amount of water to the P-trap on an ongoing basis. With these installed, hospital staff no longer needed to pour water down the drains daily.

While it was not reported how much it cost the hospital to install these, we can assume it was thousands of dollars.  As a result, we are wondering if far less costly steps could have been taken that would not only have stopped the odors for months but would also have helped ensure the hospital staff and patients would not inhale harmful pathogens.

One far less costly option would be to pour a small amount of water and a few ounces of EverPrime liquid primer in the drains about every three to six months.  EverPrime does not evaporate and can withstand extreme climate fluctuations, from very cold to extremely hot.

We are not sure when EverPrime was invented, so this may not have even been an option available to the hospital back in 2003.  But fortunately, we have it today. This means no building administrators should ever have to grapple with dangerous sewer odors being released in their facilities again.

Facility Managers of Schools beware of dry trap seals in building drains

Thousands of schools around the country are re-opening or plan to do so at some point this fall. Because most of these schools have been closed for months due to COVID-19, school administrators are doing everything possible to make sure schools are not only clean but healthy. However, one troubling area that may be overlooked is right under their feet: floor drains.

Under each floor drain is a trap seal. When it is working correctly, it is filled with water that blocks odors, bacteria, and pathogens – including those that might cause COVID – from being released into the air.

It is when they dry out that serious problems can occur, making the drain an open sewer line.

“Drains provide excellent conditions for these potentially deadly inhabitants to not only survive, but thrive,” says Klaus Reichardt, CEO, and founder of Waterless Co., Inc. “Some of these may even be multi-drug resistant organisms, that are also resistant to traditional cleaning solutions and disinfectants.”

This was one of the causes of the SARS epidemic in Hong Kong. According to a report in Infection Control Today, the World Health Organization found that the U-trap seals (a.k.a. P-trap seals) in the drain pipes at the city’s Amoy Garden apartments triggered the SARS outbreak because the water in the drains had evaporated. 

“These traps are designed to hold water at all times. The water acts as a barrier and prevents insects, foul smells, and, in this case, viruses and bacteria from backing up through the drains.” 1

To address this situation, Reichardt says many cleaning professionals and building engineers pour bleach down the drains.

“However, bleach may just pass through the drain and possibly corrode pipes, especially older pipes.” Instead, he suggests using a liquid “ever prime,” now widely available.  

“Administrators should pour some water and then a few ounces of ever prime liquids into every floor drain before school opening. It will last for months and block fumes and pathogens from being released.”

1 “SARS and Plumbing: The Role Sewage Plays in Spreading Disease,” Infection Control Today, May 13, 2003

Let's Have Some Fun Peeing Again

Boy, it's been rough the past few months. Most of us were in lock down for about three months, our jobs and businesses took a hit, and if you are a parent, your kids were likely driving you slightly crazy. Now adding salt to the many wounds, some areas of the country may be going back into lock down mode.

We need some fun, anywhere and anyplace we can find it.  So, at least for the fellas, how about starting with urinals. A few years back, there were some innovative things happening to urinals in Europe and South America when it comes to urinals. While they may not necessarily be considered "fun," at least in the traditional sense of the word, if we had them again, at least they would likely put a smile on your face.

IMAGE CREDIT: http://www.dudeiwantthat.com/household/bathroom/guitar-pee-musical-urinal.asp

Guitar Pee

As the name implies, this is a musical urinal.  Guitar Pee was made by Billboard Brazil and installed in bars around Sao Paolo.  It is designed to be very interactive, helping guys entertain themselves a bit when making a pit stop.

The Guitar Pee urinal is shaped like a guitar. As the gentleman uses the urinal, the system’s guitar components detect the flow rate and thrust of the urine being released into the urinal.  As the flow and force accelerates, so does the music. When things start to wind down, the guitar recital comes to an end.

MPee3 (The Guitar Pee Add-On)

This system worked with Guitar Pee.  It’s was an app you can download to your phone or other devices.  But here was the big feature of the MPee3 system.  It allows you to stream the musical performances of other Guitar Pee performers. That way you can share your special urinal event – as well as those of others - with all your friends.

Mr. Friendly
This urinal is still around.  A Dutch start-up invented Mr. Friendly, calling him a "smart urinal." It’s “smart,” because it is a waterless urinal, but more than that, it entertains users with advertisements. Here's how it works.

As soon as a gentleman steps up to it, the urinal starts showing advertisements from all types of organizations on a screen – from cars and men's clothing manufacturers to local flower shops.  Because Mr. Friendly is often found on commuter trains in Holland, possibly the flower shop owners see this as a perfect time to remind men to bring home some flowers.  

As with Guitar Pee and MPee3, sensors know when Mr. Friendly has a captive audience - of one - and it begins the advertisements. 

And a captive audience, it is.  The unspoken word when using public urinals is you always look straight ahead. And straight ahead just happens to be where the Mr. Friendly advertising screen is located.

Once again, sensors tell the system when their captive audience has left.

Target Practice

How about some target practice?  Back in Victorian England, urinals were often decorated with images of a honeybee. The bee was placed near the bottom of the urinal and was designed to help gentleman instinctively aim for the target.  It definitely made peeing fun.

Examples of these bees installed in urinals can be found in Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport.  Along with bees placed at the bottom of the urinal, we also have a company that still makes decals that look like flies and other insects.

Along with providing the user with a target practice, they are designed to improve cleanliness and reduce cleaning costs.  They also help reduce splashback. That’s when urine splashes back on clothing, hands, and shoes, a challenge that is more common than men realize.

Easy-Peasy

Finally, Larry David of Curb Your Enthusiasm has come up with his own urinal.  Still a concept, David calls it Pee Cube.  He says the thought behind the Pee Cube was to make using a urinal more hygienic and to ensure that urinating in a public restroom is "easy-peasy."

Here's how Pee Cube works:

·      The user enters a "structure," as David calls it. This is made up of partitions on either side of the urinal, enclosing it, and providing privacy.

·      As the user enters the structure, he steps onto two large foot pedals on the floor.

·      Stepping onto the foot pedals signals a trap door to lift, revealing the Pee Cube urinal.

·      But that's not all. Sensors move the urinal up or down - based on the crotch height of the user.

·      When the user steps off the pedals, the trap door closes, the urinal automatically flushes, and once again, disappears from view.4

That's the gist of it. The Pee Cube may be more practical than the other types of urinals just discussed, but all share the same thing in common, at least initially: They get you thinking about something else for a few minutes other than the pandemic and hopefully put a smile on your face.

We can use that right now.

Will Water Become a Luxury in the US?

Adding to the many other challenges this country faces right now – the pandemic, a struggling economy, public unrest, and general confusion – we need to add something more: water bills. 

The problem is that water bills in the U.S. are on the rise, just as many people find themselves out of work. In fact, in 12 diverse cities, combined costs of water and sewage have increased by an average of 80 percent between 2010 and 2018. 

According to a study by the Guardian newspaper, the result is that two-thirds of residents in some U.S. cities can no longer afford their water bills. To come to this conclusion, the Guardian determined that if a water bill exceeds four percent of a household's total income, it is considered unaffordable.

The reason the water bills are going up is not news. Communities have been grappling with water infrastructure problems for years.  Further, many are being forced to add water structure to address growing populations, deal with climate change issues, and grapple with fuel hikes.

As to the twelve cities where water is now unaffordable for a significant percentage of residents they are the following:

1. New Orleans

2. Cleveland

3. Santa Fe

4. San Diego

5. Austin

6. Philadelphia

7. Seattle

8. Tucson

9. San Jose

10. Indianapolis

11. Fresno

12. Charlotte, North Carolina

"More people are in trouble, and the poorest of the poor are in big trouble," said Roger Colton, a leading utility analyst. He was commissioned by the Guardian to analyze water poverty. "The data shows that we've got an affordability problem in an overwhelming number of cities nationwide that didn't exist a decade ago, or even two or three years ago in some cities."  

You might wonder if the Federal government is stepping up to the plate to address this situation. The answer is no. Again, as reported in the newspaper, "federal aid to public water utilities… has plummeted while maintenance, environmental and health threats, climate shocks, and other expenditures have skyrocketed."

According to some observers, what is happening is that water is becoming a "luxury" in parts of this country. For instance, in Austin, TX, if water bills continue to go up, it is believed that 80 percent of low-income residents will face unaffordable bills by 2030.

You might also be wondering if water bills are no longer affordable for some households, will their water be turned off? The answer is: it's already happening. In Philadelphia, some people have been without water service for years. 

Residents use plastic bags for the toilet and bottled water to wash their hands, reports the newspaper. 

So, what can we do?

It is an exceedingly difficult situation and will require all branches of government – Federal, state, and local – to come up with workable solutions. 

Plus, private industry should be called in to see where savings can be found now and long-term.  

For the rest of us, the way we can help is to reduce water consumption and use water more efficiently. We see this happen every day as more and more facilities install water using devices, including restroom fixtures such as waterless urinals, that reduce consumption dramatically. This will put less pressure on water utility companies, giving them more time - and some much need breathing room  - to build up water infrastructure.   

For more information on how to reduce water consumption, waterless urinals, and to use water more efficiently, contact a Waterless Co Specialist

Waterless Co "Baja" Urinal Ranked Best No-Water Urinal of 2020

July 30, 2020 – Vista, CA - According to Nestlord, a product review service affiliated with Amazon.com, the best no-water urinal for 2020 is the "Baja" from Waterless Co. Inc.

The review states that among the reasons the Baja was selected was because the cartridges used with the Baja only need to be "replaced two to four times in a year" and only cost $10.

This is far less expensive than the cartridges used, for instance, in other water-free urinals.  Plus, cartridges used in competing no-water urinals often need to be changed six or more times per year.

Atlanta Falcons Mercedes-Benz Stadium

Among the other benefits pointed out in the review are the following:

·       The Baja is ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) compliant

·       The Baja comes with two EcoTrap cartridges, considered the best in the industry.

·       BlueSeal liquid is used in these cartridges, which prevents odors from being released.

·       The Baja is also "easy to install and connects directly with two-inch standard drain lines," allowing it to be installed in almost all facilities.

"Of course, we are very proud of the Baja," says Klaus Reichardt, CEO, and Founder of Waterless Co.

"It has been our bestselling no-water urinal for years.  We are also grateful it was honored as 'The Best Waterless Urinal of 2020.'"

About Waterless

Waterless Co. Inc. has established a well-respected reputation as being an innovative manufacturer of no-water urinal systems.  Based in Vista, Ca, the company was started in 1991 and is the oldest manufacturer of waterless urinals in North America.  The company’ manufacturers a full line of Waterless No-Flush urinals, cleaning liquids, and cost saving restroom accessories. For more info, email us at info@waterless.com or visit: www.waterless.com