Plumbing innovations boost conservation

BY JOHN FITZGERALD,

contributing writer

Most environmental news today focuses on climate change and the role of greenhouse gases produced by an industrialized world. When water issues are discussed, it is often in the context of cross-border water rights battles rather than the importance of water efficiency in buildings.

Yet, green building and green plumbing have affected every plumbing contractor. But the big question is: “How do we build green in the plumbing industry?” There are many aspects to the plumbing industry that can “go green,” such as new construction, retrofitting and service and repair.

There are ways plumbing can contribute to the overall efficiency of green buildings by decreasing water usage to conserve energy. Using water-saving techniques diverts less water from our rivers, bays, and estuaries, which helps keep the environment healthy.

In fact, the biggest use of electricity in most cities occurs when supplying water and cleaning it after it has been used. According to the Water and Energy Technology Team at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, as much as one-quarter to one-half of the electricity used by most cities in this country is consumed at municipal water and wastewater treatment facilities. Thus, wherever water usage can be reduced at the point of use, energy savings will follow.

The good news is that significant water-efficiency improvements, as compared to conventional practices, are readily achievable. The primary means of reducing indoor water use has to do with the fittings being used. In most buildings, plumbing fittings provide essential services that cannot be reduced: bathing, hand washing and sewage conveyance. In all of these applications, the water consumption depends on usage patterns and consumption per use.

Usage patterns are largely a matter of personal preference. For the most part, reducing water use in plumbing fittings means improving plumbing technology to lower the consumption per use. For flow-type fittings, this means decreasing the gallons per minute (gpm), and for flush-type fittings, decreasing the gallons per flush (gpf). In essence, it’s all about getting the same or better service for less water by using better technology.

Manufacturers have made major advances in improving the ease of use and the water efficiency of restroom fittings. Today’s innovative, water-efficient plumbing systems make water conservation attainable and help achieve sustainable building goals. Plumbing innovations such as high-efficiency, dual-flush toilets help empower users to manage water shortages.

The high-efficiency, dual-flush toilet regulates the flushing volume and enables users to use considerably less water for flushing. The basic concept is simple. There are two modes of flushing waste down the toilet: one full flush for solid wastes that uses the standard 1.6 gpf, and one low flush for liquid wastes that typically uses half of the full flush, or about 0.8 to 1.1 gpf.

The dual-flush toilets can be disguised as standard tank-type toilets. The only visible difference is that the handle or the flushing mechanism looks and functions differently. One of the latest dual-flush toilets on the market is the concealed tank and carrier system, where the toilet is mounted on the wall, taking it off the floor, and the tank system is behind the wall. It is safely hidden in the wall and operated only by the activation panel, allowing the choice for the two flush volumes. Because it is “in the wall,” the actuator flush panel also serves as the doorway to the system’s moving parts, allowing easy access to all flushing components and the shut-off valve.

Installing dual-flush toilets is not all that different from installing a standard toilet except that a wall-hung system attaches to wall framing (See “Installing a concealed tank and carrier system is easy” sidebar). Drainage and venting are similar to a conventional floor-mounted toilet.

When using dual-flush toilets, the liquid waste mode is used more often than the full flush. Even if the full flush is used once a day along with two other low flushes (2:1 ratio), that brings the total water use to 3.2 gallons per day or 1,139 gallons per year -- a significant savings in water (33% water savings).

Possibly the most attractive feature of the dual flush is it does not require significant behavioral changes for benefits to be realized. That is, end users can continue to use the toilet with the same frequency as they normally do and still save water, energy and money. Moreover, greater efficiency at the end-user level translates into resource and monetary benefits at the water utility level.                    

John Fitzgerald is director of marketing, Geberit North America/The Chicago Faucet Company.