Sustainable Use of its Water Through Waterless Urinals

Synopsis

The City of Melville, a Water Campaign™ participant since 2004, has converted all urinals within its main administration building to waterless urinals. Twelve single person urinals were retrofitted in total.

Waterless urinals can take two forms. Some manufacturers make new urinals with a built in drain insert which uses an oily liquid to trap smell (savewater.com.au, 20042). The City of Melville chose the alternative, a microbial block which can be installed in existing urinals. The microbes in the blocks break down the compounds in the urine which cause smell eliminating the need for water to wash the urine away. Once the cubes are installed in the existing urinals the flushing mechanisms can be disconnected allowing for significant water savings.

Motivation for installing the waterless urinals

The City of Melville has demonstrated an ongoing commitment to the sustainable use of its water resources. Converting the toilets using these microbial blocks was seen as a cost effective, easy action to reduce the council’s corporate water use.

Savings and Benefits

The City of Melville has calculated that the waterless urinals are delivering savings of 10KL a year. There is also the water quality benefits associated with a reduction in black water produced and the fact that they do not require strong chemicals for cleaning. The blocks can also break down uric scale, a deposit that builds up in the urinal plumbing and can be costly to clean.