STATE OFFICIALS SLOW TO GIVE NO-FLUSH TECHNOLOGY A WHIRL.

Byline: Scott Maben The Register-Guard

It just keeps getting easier - for the guys, at least. First came the self-flush toilet. Now flushing is unnecessary with the arrival of the waterless urinal in Oregon.

The state has approved the flush-free fixtures for public buildings, and a few may sprout up soon in local men's rooms. The potential water savings is huge.

"I think it's a great idea," said Glen Svendsen, Eugene's city facilities manager. "In a lot of places around the country they're just a standard item."

In Oregon, the state plumbing board has taken a slow and cautious approach to the new technology and still hasn't approved it for the commercial and industrial sectors. A plumbers union has raised numerous concerns about the urinals, from sanitation to maintenance to the cost of swapping out conventional units.

But after seeing the results of a three-year pilot project involving 21 water-free urinals in 13 state parks, the plumbing board voted 5-2 last month to approve flush-free urinals for city, county, state and federal buildings.

Each fixture, which costs roughly the same as a conventional toilet, can save tens of thousands of gallons of water a year, making them attractive to cash-strapped cities and communities trying to conserve water.

With urinals using up to a gallon of water per flush, the waterless design is another tool to stretch the area's water supply as growth puts greater demands on the resource.

"I think water in general is going to be one of the critical environmental issues we're going to face in the future," said Peter Ruffier, wastewater division director for the Eugene-Springfield area.

The urinals control odor through innovations such as a replaceable trap cartridge filled with a lighter-than-urine liquid disinfectant that acts as a sealant.

Eugene officials say they may start with one in the facility management office in Skinner Butte Park.

"I think we'll roll them out slowly, see how they go," design and construction manager Mike Penwell said.

If the fixtures perform well, the city would hope to deploy them in more city-owned buildings, Penwell said.

The University of Oregon also may experiment with water-free urinals. With hundreds of restrooms on campus and deteriorating pipes in the oldest ones, "I think there's plenty of potential here," maintenance team supervisor Greg Haider said.

The urinals are the type of feature found in super-sustainable or "green" buildings, but their use was approved too late for local high-profile green projects such as the new Eugene Public Library in downtown and the Lillis Business Complex at the UO.

The urinals are in the new federal courthouse in Seattle, but it may be too late to add them to the U.S. courthouse going up in Eugene, said Peter Gray, spokesman for the U.S. General Services Adminis- tration.

"This technology is not currently part of the design planning for the project. Given budget constraints and that the design is now 100 percent complete, this situation may not change," Gray said.

Michael Strode, a field supervisor for Ready Rooter and Chapman Plumbing in Eugene, said he has seen the new urinals only in a trade magazine but thinks they are a good idea.

"We all are concerned about conserving water, so I don't see a problem with them myself," Strode said.

However, he does wonder if the lack of rinse water will lead to faster calcification of the drain pipe.

That is one of several concerns raised by the 4,300-member Local 290 of the United Association of Plumbers and Steamfitters.

Ron Murray, lobbyist for the union, said the local will abide by the plumbing board's decision, but "we'll let the citizens decide if they like them."

"We'll even put one in the governor's personal bathroom for free," Murray said.

He's not convinced the models used in state parks do enough to control odors.

"They do tend to be somewhat odoriferous," Murray said. "If they want to have an outhouse in their house, that's what they'll get."

He also questions the potential savings, noting that the cost to tear out and dispose of the old urinal, seal off water pipes, install the new fixture and patch walls or tile work can be steep. The parks department spent $2,000 on each waterless urinal it installed, the agency said.

Other problems may exist with the safe disposal of the cartridges that must be replaced several times a year, Murray said.

Falcon Waterfree Technologies, maker of one of the models tested in state parks, refutes the union's claims.

"This is the most efficient way to save our water resources and provide a safe, sanitary, hygienic plumbing fixture," company spokesman Danny Gleiberman said.

Extensive independent research shows the fixtures are not offensive to the olfactory sense, Gleiberman said.

"They've been tested and retested, and came out each and every time with no detectable or discernible odor," he said.

No-flush urinals are growing in popularity elsewhere, he added. They've been approved in 29 states and throughout Canada, and they even are used in the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif.

The state Building Codes Division has recommended water-free urinals be approved for all uses, including in privately owned buildings. But the plumbing board, which includes plumbers and engineers, has resisted requests to approve widespread use of non-flush urinals since 1994.

One reason is the level of maintenance the urinals would receive in private buildings vs. public facilities, said board chairman Lewis Graves, a mechanical engineer in Gresham.

"They have their own peculiar maintenance requirements," Graves said.

CAPTION(S):

The state plumbing board's approval last month allows only public facilities to install water-free urinals. The University of Oregon may consider the water-saving fixtures. Falcon Waterfree Technologies `This is the most efficient way to save our water resources and provide a safe, sanitary, hygienic plumbing fixture.' DANNY GLEIBERMAN FALCON WATERFREE TECHNOLOGIES