ASU officials want to avoid flushing water and money down the toilet by installing waterless urinals in several new campus buildings.
The urinals are part of the University's effort to meet higher standards of energy and water conservation.
A waterless urinal is used just like an ordinary urinal, said Dave Brixen, ASU facilities management director.
But males who use the facilities need not flush the toilet because a trapping device filled with blue, biodegradable, musky-scented oil seals away the waste and keeps sewer odors out of the restroom.
"[Waterless urinals] are becoming more and more common," Brixen said. "If anything, they smell less, because there's no flushing."
ASU is testing a few models from Falcon WaterFree Technologies and Waterless No-Flush Urinals inside some restrooms in ASU's University Services Building, Brixen said.
The devices from both companies will save ASU about 40,000 gallons of water per urinal per year.
The urinals have a drain cover with tiny holes in it. A cartridge that contains a scented trapping fluid then traps the urine, said Jane Karkowsky, Arizona regional sales representative for Waterless No-Flush Urinals. The fluid contains oil and is less dense than the urine.
Using the urinals may be faster and more sanitary than using a traditional urinal, said Bob Jewell, southwest district manager for Falcon WaterFree Technologies.
"It's probably a little faster in a large group," Jewell said. "You don't have to touch anything."
ASU saves money from not needing water and sewer services, Brixen said. The University also saves money on maintenance expenses.
The urinal cartridges must be refilled with fluid every so often, since some of the fluid goes into the drain with every use, Brixen said. But not having to maintain the flushing mechanism of a standard urinal saves ASU between $100 and $400 per urinal, depending on how much a particular unit is used, Brixen said.
Jewell said the urinals could be more sanitary because they don't shoot out droplets of water during the flushing action, and cited ongoing public restroom health studies at the University of Arizona running from 1973 to the present.
The toilets will become a staple fixture in all of ASU's new buildings, including the Arizona Biodesign Institute buildings, said Charlie Popeck, president and CEO of Green Ideas Environmental Building Consultants, a consulting firm ASU hired to increase environmental efficiency on campus.
By saving water in urinals, ASU will earn points toward meeting the standard this year. Popeck, also the president of the Arizona chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council, said his group will be asking Arizona and other states to offer tax breaks to organizations meeting the LEED building standards sometime in the future.
The Arizona Legislature recently passed a state law mandating the installation of waterless urinals in all new state buildings beginning in January 2005.
ASU officials don't plan to replace old urinals in existing buildings with the waterless urinals because of the expense involved in installing new units, Brixen said.
Reach the reporter at nicole.saidi@asu.edu.
