Waterless toilets? hmmm.

Ok, Emily and I have discussed this one, after I discovered there are actually waterless regular toilets. She says it sounds gross and I can't help but agree that it couldn't be less than nasty.

The urinals, however, seem like a really cool idea, to me. She still thinks they would be gross. I am delving into this topic because I, for the first time, got to see/use one. When we were on our way back from buying my new/old truck, we stopped at MickeyD's, I dunno, and they had one. It didn't stink actually, surprisingly. Less than the average urinal, actually.

Now, like I said, I can't help but think the regualr toilet would be nasty without water. However, the urinal idea, especially because it would most likely be used in a public facility, where bjillions of people use it everyday (fast food place, parks, rest stops, sporting events, Target, etc.), and is 'supposed' to be cleaned on regular basis, it would be an easy way to save much money and water. Besides, it wouldn't be any harder to clean it.

I would really love to hear opinions on this one.

I don't remember the brand name, but here is one from Kohler:

http://www.us.kohler.com/onlinecatalog/detail.jsp?item=10453302&prod_num=4918&module=Commercial+Urinals

John

I just heard of waterless toilets myself.  It turns out my area has a low-flow toilet rebate, and I discovered that our current toilet was made in 1951, so we're going to replace it with an (ultra) low flow version (1.28 gal per flush).  The idea of the waterless toilet pretty well grossed me out too.

A waterless urinal sounds like a good idea.  My only problem is that I wouldn't have room for one in my bathroom in addition to the toilet, but it sounds like a really good way to save water (and I don't think the grossness factor would be a problem).

Ok, some guy posted a comment on my Blogger blog about the waterless urinals. He included the following link. He might just be pimpin his brand. I dunno, but it looks pretty cool. I hasn't looked at it much, but it looks cool thus far.

Here bees the link:

www.falconwaterfree.com

John

Haha, regardless of whether or not they make a good product, they certainly nailed it with their tagline:

"Pee Green."

I did a post on my blog a couple weeks ago about the waterless urinals.  I've seen them now at a couple public bathrooms in Boston.  Like most people, I hate the smell of urine and I did not notice any smell around them.  I forget the exact number, but something like 20,000-30,000 gallons of water saved a year for each unit when they ae used in public restrooms!

I want one for my bathroom but a dual flush toilet is our next investment. 

We actually had/have waterless urinals in my dorm building bathrooms at the University of Washington.

Originally we had the Kohler ones, but they frequently got clogged (I don't see how there's that much to clog them, but anyway...). That might have been simply because of the severe use they get in a dorm building, or perhaps the janitors weren't maintaining them properly (Kohler specifies a bimonthly cleanout procedure). They actually ended up getting rid of the Kohler ones because of the clogging issues. Again though, I'll stress that it may not have really been a flaw with the urinal.

Elsewhere on campus we have the Falcon brand ones, and I am not aware of any problems with them whatsoever. They're completely odor-free and drain quickly in my experience. Their main fault lies in that they have a replaceable cartridge unit. This is probably why they're so odor-free, but it also probably negates the environmental benefits of having a water free urinal (imagine all the petroleum in the plastic casing, the energy expended on transport and manufacturing, etc.).

You could also go with a dual-flush toilet or retrofit.