by Gary Mays | Aug 9, 2023 | Waterless Urinals
Waterless Urinals the Future of Water Conservation
In today’s rapidly changing climate landscape, water conservation has become more than just a consideration—it’s a necessity. Pioneering the movement towards responsible water usage, ZeroFlush waterless urinals emerge as the future solution, fusing innovation with responsibility.
The Growing Concern of Water Scarcity
According to the World Resources Institute, more than a quarter of the world’s population faces high water stress, which is expected to rise with the progressing impacts of climate change. With growing urban populations and increased agricultural demands, the stress on our freshwater resources is undeniable.
ZeroFlush Waterless Urinals Leading the Way in Water Savings
Traditional flushing urinals can consume up to 15140 litres of water yearly. By stark contrast, ZeroFlush’s waterless design saves this significant volume per unit annually. Just imagine: installing a single ZeroFlush waterless urinal in a busy commercial space can save as much water as an Olympic size pool over its lifetime!
The Eco-Friendly and Economic Choice
Carbon Footprint Reduction: Traditional urinals not only consume water but also indirectly increase energy use. Treating and pumping water is energy-intensive, translating to higher carbon emissions. ZeroFlush’s waterless design slashes these emissions, contributing to a greener planet.
Cost Savings: Whywait Plumbing, as a respected industry voice, has long advocated for eco-friendly and cost-effective solutions. We affirm that with reduced water and energy bills, businesses can expect significant savings by transitioning to ZeroFlush.
Climate Change: Adapting and Mitigating
As droughts become more frequent and water scarcity affects even historically water-rich areas, solutions like ZeroFlush waterless urinals aren’t just innovative; they are essential. Their technology helps businesses and communities better adapt to a changing climate, ensuring functionality even during water cut-offs or restrictions.
The Hygiene and Maintenance Advantage
Advanced Design: ZeroFlush waterless urinals employ an intelligent design that minimises odours, reducing the need for frequent cleanings and the use of harsh chemicals. This not only conserves water but also contributes to a healthier restroom environment.
Endorsement by Whywait Plumbing: Renowned for its commitment to efficient and sustainable plumbing solutions, Whywait Plumbing recommends ZeroFlush for its superior design and ease of maintenance. They often underline how these urinals cut down on long-term maintenance costs, further emphasising their economic advantage.
Advocacy and Education: A Role for All
Advocacy becomes crucial as consumers and businesses increasingly recognise the need for water conservation. At Whywait Plumbing, apart from providing plumbing solutions, we actively educate our clientele about the myriad benefits of transitioning to waterless systems. ZeroFlush’s impressive water-saving stats and undeniable environmental benefits often stand out as prime examples in their advocacy.
A Commitment to Sustainability
Choosing ZeroFlush goes beyond just product selection—it’s a commitment to a sustainable future. ZeroFlush waterless urinals present a compelling case for businesses, institutions, and public spaces everywhere by saving precious water, reducing carbon footprints, ensuring hygiene, and cutting costs.
Let’s usher in an era of conscious conservation. With industry experts like Whywait Plumbing championing the cause and innovative solutions like ZeroFlush leading the charge, a sustainable, water-secure future is within reach.
by Gary Mays | Jun 13, 2018 | Bathrooms, Blocked drain, City of Gold Coast, Consumer Issues, DIY Plumbing, Gold Coast Plumbing, Health Issues, Hot Water, Hot Water Heat Pump, Hot Water Solar, Plumbers Gold Coast, Plumbing Maintenance, Plumbing Renovation, Sanden “Eco®” Plus Heat Pump hot water system, solar hot water, Sustainable Plumbing, Waterless Urinals, ZeroFlush waterless urinals
Plumbing innovations have always been the norm in the plumbing industry. Innovation is change and is always about better ways of doing the same thing.
When I started my apprenticeship the clearing of a blocked drain started using a plunger and was at least a two-man job using 1m long drainage rods. The rods were screwed together and manually pushed slowly down the drain until we hit the blockage. Clearing drains this way frequently took 3-4 hours.
Plumbing innovations mean that we now clear a blocked drain with state of the art high-pressure jetrodding technology that was unknown 20 years ago.
Innovation is always about change, but at Whywait Plumbing we have always been at the forefront of plumbing innovations. We have always lead change as Gold Coast plumbers from the purchase of our first high-pressure water jetting unit in 1992 or installing vehicle tracking systems or introducing guaranteed upfront pricing in 1999.
What we always considered was developing and improving our way of solving your plumbing problems is now referred to as disruptive innovation. I agree disruptive innovation is the new term in business in the 21st century. But it’s not new it’s just a new way of talking about improving our methods and practices using the latest technology.
Change is the norm, but it just appears to be frantic to an outside observer with online banking, online shopping, online flight bookings and so the list goes on. At least with plumbing, it can’t be done online except for those DIY enthusiasts who believe Google Plumbing has all the answers.
The level of disruption through plumbing innovations has impacted all plumbing installation and maintenance has been significant starting with:
- Increasing use of prefabrication of bathroom and kitchen modules off-site where the plumbing is all undertaken in a factory, transported to the site and connected up to a water and drainage connection.
- Continual advances in sustainability with the advent of low flow toilets, low flow taps, waterless urinals and recirculated hot water.
- Advances in energy efficient products with heat pump hot water units, solar hot water, instant hot water and underfloor heating.
- All of the different materials we now use in the pipework, relining of existing pipework, CCTV cameras to inspect pipes and pipe jointing methods where welding is now obsolete.
- Excavation methods with advanced technologies in hydro excavation and tracking and locating of underground services.
The ongoing changes in technology in the plumbing industry are disruptive if not embraced. I agree that plumbing innovations cause a significant difference in how we undertake to solve plumbing problems and how the plumbers at Whywait work now.
Ultimately plumbing continues to be about protecting the health and safety of the community for now and the future to ensure we have good quality water and sewer systems in our buildings.
by Gary Mays | Jun 7, 2018 | Bathrooms, Blocked drain, City of Gold Coast, Gold Coast Plumbing, Health Issues, Plumbers Gold Coast, Plumbing Legislation, Plumbing Maintenance, Sustainable Plumbing, Water, Waterless Urinals, ZeroFlush waterless urinals
ZeroFlush waterless urinals are an increasingly widespread investment being made by architects, hydraulic engineers, facilities managers and building owners throughout Australia because they help conserve water.
Here at Whywait Plumbing, we concur that there are conflicting arguments about the amount of money they save. ZeroFlush waterless urinals do operate without flushing any water, so they will always save water first and foremost. But when making a case for their installation and the investment in maintaining and operating them the best evidence is they are environmentally and sustainably superior to every water flushing urinal.
Installation of ZeroFlush waterless urinals as a corporate responsibility effort should always be a consideration, but here at Whywait Plumbing our experience with ZeroFlush enables us to give you a performance guarantee.
On current Gold Coast Water charges we can guarantee installation of ZeroFlush waterless urinals will reduce your water and sewer discharge costs.
Contact us at Whywait Plumbing now to discuss how you can benefit by installing ZeroFlush waterless urinals as we can guarantee the following:
- the reduced capital cost to install as no expensive electronic water flushing systems are required
- reduced maintenance costs with no water reticulation valves to maintain
- simple and easy cleaning procedures with our natural enzyme cleaning products
- reduction in blocked drains and drainage traps
- all products used in the manufacture and maintenance of ZeroFlush waterless urinals are environmentally sustainable
Determining exactly how much water a ZeroFlush waterless urinal keeps from the Gold Coast Water sewer system is somewhat complicated. The number depends on a variety of arguable variables, such as the amount of water that a water flushing urinal would use, the number of people using the urinal and how often those people will use it.
A single water flushing urinal can use anywhere from 50,000 litres to 180,000 litres of water every year. Once again this is based on multiple variables such as the size of the building, the number of male employees and how many times they use the urinal each day. A building such as a factory with one bathroom facility, three ZeroFlush waterless urinals and 120 male employees, would save approximately 900,000 litres of water each year.
Calculating the payback period for installing ZeroFlush waterless urinals can be a complicated process. Using the average of $9 per 1,000 litres of water from Gold Coast Water and the example of an office with four men working in it, we can come up with some estimates.
Let’s say each man flushes a urinal 2,000 times per year or about 5.5 times per day, meaning that the four men flush the toilet 4,000 times a year in the office. With an older, water flushing urinal using 15 litres per flush will use 60.000 litres, costing about $540 every year just for water.
Ultimately, ZeroFlush waterless urinals save more water than money, but we guarantee that they are still worth the investment in sustainability.
by Gary Mays | Nov 14, 2012 | Climate Change, Drain Odours, Health Issues, Waterless Urinals
With the advent of the EnviroSeal system for Zero Flush waterless urinals the days of malfunctioning urinals are over. The ongoing development of Zero Flush waterless urinals signals the end of wasted water and energy in public toilets everywhere. Building owners everywhere are praising the benefits and reaping the rewards of finally having efficient, problem free waterless urinals installed by Whywait Plumbing Services.
For those who are not aware, a Zero Flush waterless urinal utilises gravity and an incredibly smooth porcelain surface to do the work that used to take up to 12 litres of water. While this concept may seem foreign and completely unappealing, a Zero Flush waterless urinal eliminates odour by separating waste from air meaning that foul smells will stay in the drains where they belong.
Zero Flush waterless urinals have hygienic benefits, economic benefits, and environment benefits, some of which are listed below:
- No flushing: When a traditional urinal is flushed, you might think that all the waste is transported directly down the drain. Actually, the rushing water creates a mist that contains waste and contaminates the air. Since waterless urinals don’t flush, they don’t contaminate the air.
- No touching: Traditional urinals rely on flush valves to expel the waste. These valves can have thousands of dirty hands touching them over the course of their life-cycle. Zero Flush waterless urinals have no valves so there’s no touching and no spread of germs.
- Water bills: The name is no exaggeration; a Zero Flush waterless urinal literally uses zero water to operate. With the water bill alone, a Zero Flush waterless urinal could easily pay for itself within a year if not sooner.
- Maintenance: No flush valve to fix. No blocked pipes that need unblocking. Little to clean. A Zero Flush waterless urinal is so efficient it needs next to no supervision.
- Price: With all their benefits, Zero Flush waterless urinals are in higher demand. Zero Flush have been producing urinals in larger numbers, which means the prices are lower. You can now even purchase a waterless urinal for nearly half the same price as a traditional urinal.
- Potable water supplies: Yes, the world is almost covered in water so it seems like we can use it as we please. The truth is, we only have so much potable water that we have access to. With Zero Flush waterless urinals, wasting water is unnecessary.
- Energy efficiency: Some people take it for granted that water is available in pipes all the time but it doesn’t get there by accident. It takes a great deal of energy and electricity to move water. Zero Flush waterless urinals save the environment by conserving energy.
For building owners Zero Flush waterless urinals installed by Whywait Plumbing Services are a smart choice for hygiene, budgeting and the environment.
by Gary Mays | Aug 26, 2011 | bathroom renovation regret, Bathrooms, City of Gold Coast, Consumer Issues, Gold Coast Plumbing, Gold Coast Water, Plumbers, Plumbers Gold Coast, Toilets, Water Saving Tips, Waterless Urinals, ZeroFlush waterless urinals
Waterless urinals increase water sustainability
Falcon waterless urinals at The Oasis Shopping Centre installed by Whywait Plumbing in 1998
In 1998 Whywait Plumbing installed the first waterless urinals on the Gold Coast at The Oasis Shopping Centre. At that time the owners of The Oasis Shopping Centre, Thakral Holdings had as Engineering Director, Tony Harvey. Tony Harvey was ahead of his time focusing on setting sustainability targets for all Thakral properties in both electricity and water.
These first waterless urinals were fibreglass Falcon urinals with disposable cartridges. To say they were not successful was an understatement. We were continually servicing the Falcon urinals as they suffered from frequent blockages due to their cartridge design. The cost to replace cartridges constantly far outweighed the water-saving benefits at that time.
Servicing these Falcon waterless urinals became a detested task by Whywait’s plumbing technicians as invariably removing the cartridge resulted in getting covered in urine that was in the cartridge. To all of our plumber’s relief we ripped them out and replaced them with ZeroFlush waterless urinals in 2004.
Water flushing urinals stink
Traditional water flushing urinals are a significant waster of potable water in most commercial buildings. Most men are aware of that distinctive odour of male public toilets. Contrary to popular believe that odour is not usually from the urinals. It is, in fact, an odour created by the mixing of water vapour and urine creating bacteria that thrive in the wet environment of the grout in the tiled floors and walls.
In fact the installation of Australian WaterMark approved waterless urinals such as ZeroFlush creates a dry environment that does not allow bacteria to grow in the tile grout and create that distinctive odour. A properly maintained and serviced waterless urinal will give trouble free service, eliminate expensive and ever increasing water costs plus reduce carbon emissions.
Do waterless urinals stink?
Whywait Plumbing technicians have investigated numerous instances of waterless urinals being blamed for blocked drains or odours. In reality this is consistently not the case as investigation always reveals the real causes such as dry floor wastes, incorrect installation or incorrect servicing.
The most common cause is inappropriate or non-existant servicing procedures. Far too many plumbers fail to upskill themselves with current sustainability skills, methods or requirements. Often these same plumbers fail to read simple instructions on servicing methods and requirements and instead advocate the removal of the waterless urinals. It is normally simple to identify the poor servicing as the plumbers maintaining the urinals fail to purchase servicing materials and then blame the waterless urinals for poor performance.
Whywait Plumbing is aware of buildings where government subsidies have been paid to the owners to install waterless urinals and ignorant building managers have allowed plumbing companies to remove the urinals and replace them with expensive water guzzling urinals. The plumbers who undertake these activities are in our opinion conducting a fraud and their motives are transparent.
This approach is to the detriment of their clients and the community as a whole whom have embraced sustainability to make efficient use of expensive water and protect our environment.
If you want assistance with your urinals contact Whywait Plumbing on (07) 5580 4311 to organise a site audit.
