Small Business Owners: Sloan Valve

            Let’s face it: if you’re the owner of a small or local business, you’ve got more to worry about than just inventory and finances. You’ve also got your plate full with trying to compete with the competition and keep your customers satisfied in every way possible. If your small business has a public restroom, that’s an extra sum of money and attention you’ll have to pay to the bathroom, since you’ll need to make sure everything is in good working order, refilled, and clean.

            But have you ever stopped and thought about possibly updating some of your old toilet or urinal fixtures with something more water conservative? If you have, that’s great! Saving water in your public restroom is a good idea for more than just the environment—your wallet will be happy as well! The biggest problem with getting those end results is being willing to invest in something that’s waterless now.

            If you’re like most people, you’re a little weary of trying something new. Most people like using the same technology that they’ve always used, because it’s understandable to them and familiar. Having a waterless fixture can be a scary choice to make, because you may not be sure if the invest will be worth it in the long run. However, before you rule out this option, think about this: Suppose you have a regular urinal. Suppose that every day, you have twelve men come through and use it. In one year, that would be the equivalent as using 6,500+ gallons of water or 24,800+ liters of water. If we were to replace that with a waterless urinal, this is the amount of water a year you would be SAVING.

            Let’s talk hygiene for a moment. You may be concerned that a waterless urinal would get dirty quicker and thus need to be cleaned more often. You may also be concerned that this sort of urinal would cause the odors from the urine to rise up and would stink up the rest of the bathroom. Although these are reasonable fears, this isn’t the case with Sloan waterless urinals. Sloan is a huge name on the market today for flush valves. If you’ve ever gone into a public restroom that has a manual flush valve, chances are it’s from Sloan. Even so, Sloan’s prized jewel comes in the shape of their waterless urinals. Unlike a generic urinal, these urinals are angles at such a way that gravity pulls the urine down and through the pipes. Although you may think that they would get dirty quicker, this has been shown to not get any dirtier than you average water-filled urinal. When it does get dirty, however, it can be cleaned like any other urinal.

            As for hygiene, the concern that the urine would raise up a disgusting scent is nearly non-existent for Sloan. Sloan uses what’s called a trap, which is really just a cup filled with water and oil and placed in the drain. When the urine flows past it, the urine sinks. Any of the urine’s associated gases then get stuck under the oil and are unable to rise. This makes for a very clean and hygienic solution to what otherwise would be a deal-breaker, even if it were conserving water.

            Even if you’re not interested in purchasing a waterless urinal, take a look at some other commercial plumbing fixtures here: https://www.plumbersstock.com/category/28/commercial/ for a chance to save big on anything else you may need, such as water faucets, soap dispensers, and soap refills.