CODE CHANGE MAY BE A NO GO PROPOSAL FOR WATERLESS URINALS IN VALLEY MEETING STRONG OPPOSITION.Byline: Kerry Cavanaugh Staff Writer Tired of flushing money and water down the drain, San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. business leaders want the City Council to amend the plumbing code so waterless urinals could be installed in Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. . With the issue stalled in council committee, the Valley Industry and Commerce Association decided to take an official position on the zero-water- consumption fixtures after seeing a presentation from the manufacturer, Falcon Waterfree Technologies. ``The big issue there is that they save money,'' said Carolyn Casavan, co-chairwoman of VICA's environmental, infrastructure and water committee. ``It's up to the building owner to decide if they want to use them, but we think they should be able to choose to use them.'' But the bathroom fixtures have met strong opposition. In May, the council's Planning and Land Use Committee considered a proposal to allow the waterless urinals to be installed in buildings, but postponed a decision after product critics and plumbers union representatives complained that they were smelly smell·y adj. smell·i·er, smell·i·est Informal Having a noticeable, usually unpleasant or offensive odor. smelly Adjective [smellier, smelliest , used chemicals that endangered en·dan·ger tr.v. en·dan·gered, en·dan·ger·ing, en·dan·gers 1. To expose to harm or danger; imperil. 2. To threaten with extinction. fish and could spread disease. In September, the city's Building and Safety Department gave a thumbs- down to waterless urinals, saying the fixtures don't rinse themselves or flush between uses as ordered by state plumbing law. Others complained that the urinals aren't approved under the state plumbing code and said the council committee would be circumventing lengthy testing procedures for ensuring product reliability. ``These are considered unsanitary un·san·i·tar·y adj. Not sanitary. fixtures in the state code,'' said Mike Massey, executive director of Piping Industry Progress and Education Trust Fund, a labor and management group. Consultants for Falcon Waterfree Technologies have said plumbers worried they'll lose work with waterless models have blocked the measure - an allegation Massey denied, saying the union would get work either way. The waterless units look like traditional urinals but use a filter cartridge filled with an oily liquid that floats on top of urine, sealing in odors Odors anosmia Medicine. the absence of the sense of smell; olfactory anesthesia. Also called anosphrasia. — anosmic, adj. halitosis bad breath; an unpleasant odor emanating from the mouth. , while the urine flows down the drain. The fixtures are in use in the Pasadena Rose Bowl and San Diego Zoo San Diego Zoo One of the world's largest collections of mammals, birds, and reptiles, located in San Diego, Calif., and administered by the Zoological Society of San Diego. The 100-acre (40. . Kerry Cavanaugh, (818) 713-3746 kerry.cavanaugh(at)dailynews.com |
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