Labeled Flushing Urinals
Approximately 65 percent of the estimated 12 million urinals in the United States are old and inefficient. While the current federal standard for commercial urinals is 1.0 gallon per flush (gpf ), some older urinals use as much as five times that amount!
WaterSense®, a partnership program sponsored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, is helping facility managers take a stand for water efficiency by promoting urinals that use no more than a half gallon per flush.
The WaterSense Label
EPA's high-efficiency flushing urinals specification is the WaterSense program's first labeled product aimed at commercial and institutional facilities. To date, WaterSense has released specifications for toilets and bathroom sink faucets. Showerhead and single-family new home specifications are in the works.
The WaterSense label, pictured above, identifies products that have been independently tested and certified to meet EPA's criteria for both water efficiency and performance. Only flushing urinals that successfully complete the third-party certification process can earn the WaterSense label.
Savings With Every Flush
WaterSense labeled urinals will help reduce water use in commercial and institutional restrooms while helping to preserve the nation's water resources. WaterSense labeled flushing urinals use no more than 0.5 gpf and comply with existing standards for flushing urinals.1 To ensure adequate performance, urinals must also be tested for trap seal restoration and flush effectiveness before they can earn the WaterSense label.
Replacing just one older, inefficient urinal that uses 1.5 gpf with a WaterSense labeled model could save a facility approximately 4,600 gallons of water per year. Nationwide, if all older, inefficient urinals were replaced, we could save nearly 45 billion gallons annually. That's enough water to supply more than 450,000 households for a year!
Look for the Label in 2009
Whether looking to reduce water use in a new facility or to replace old, inefficient fixtures in men's restrooms, builders, designers, managers, and other specifiers can look for the WaterSense label to identify high-performing, water-efficient urinals.
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WaterSense, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Wastewater Management (4204M), 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.Washington, D.C. 20460