FEATURE 31
The latter is a golden opportunity for long term service contracts for plumbers to ensure such technology is always functional and in working order .
One issue is around waterless urinals and sensor-controlled urinals . Without a doubt there is a case for both within , as always , the right application . There is no doubt that manufacturers have improved the durability and performance of products .
Critical insofar as public places , like schools , public toilets , health centres , hospitals , clinics , and places where the public gather for different activities is the hygiene factor . Whilst Covid remains with us , there are many other diseases lurking , equally dangerous to the health of people .
Another factor is the increasing cost of water which will rise considerably in the future as the cost to supply increases .
The benefit of a waterless urinal is no water required , for new installations no water supply needed , and for existing installations east to retrofit . The airtight seal eliminates odours and cleaning of the unit is easy with soapy warm water . As bacteria need water to survive this adds value to the waterless urinal . With traditional systems over time , scale builds ups in the outlet pipe , adding to the odour factor and leading to blockages . Whether new or retrofitting , most manufacturers offer the resale opportunity to plumbers of the product and the supporting cleaning materials should the customer want greater certainty around the hygiene factor .
Without a doubt these reasons provide a huge opportunity for both contractor and maintenance plumbers as well as engineers who need to ‘ sell ’ this to developers and property owners .
It is so that the outlay for a new touchless technology set up is more than the traditional installation , but the savings in the long run must be worth the initial investment .
For Sensor technology the benefits are that the sensor reacts to movement and can be set to a fixed area of movement , only flushing when needed . Most sensors have a slight time delay before being activated again avoiding continual flushing . This does reduce the water usage . The ease of use is a factor as there is no need to touch anything .
Geberit
A healthier touchless environment makes for fewer communicable disease centres .
As with all products and systems they have certain lifespans or replacement points , and this is where regular maintenance comes into play .
Those still maintaining urinals troughs , touchless is not easy as the pipe size is larger than urinals . Some manufacturers suggest changing the trough to urinals and using either waterless or sensor technology .
Generally , restrooms or public toilets must consider both hygiene and costs to keep public safe and contain the ever- increasing cost of water and chemicals .
The touchless public toilet or restroom should eliminate any touching of products from toilet handles , buttons , basin mixers , hand dryers and including doorways , all to eliminate germ transfer . It is touchless that shuts off water rather someone not turning the hand tap or mixer off and it drips away for hours wasting potable water .
The Department of Civil Engineering in India ( similar conditions to SA ) conducted research * on standard versus touchless mixers and the result was astounding . The Rand value was converted using the Institutional water charge of City of Johannesburg which 2019 / 20 is 28.70 R / k . This is to merely illustrate the savings around touchless .
1 2
Cobratron
1 . Generally , restrooms or public toilets must consider both hygiene and costs to keep public safe and contain the ever- increasing cost of water and chemicals .
2 . The benefit of a waterless urinal is no water required , for new installations no water supply needed , and for existing installations east to retrofit .
Geberit
June 2021 Volume 27 I Number 4 www . plumbingafrica . co . za