We don’t want to give the impression that we make a habit of hanging around public toilets, but the toilets in Wolseley’s SBC demanded a closer look.

Having been advised that a whopping 30% of household water usage comes from flushing the toilet (an old style single flush toilet can use 13 litres in one flush!) we were interested to see how modern products could reduce this wastage.

The male WC facilities feature the Armitage Shanks Aridian waterless urinal (pictured). Other than the lack of pipe runs, the device looks like any other urinal. The Aridian not only reduce water usage, but are also hygenic and economic to maintain.

By installing the Aridian, water savings in a commercial enviroment could be up to 236,000 litres per year!

Another great product on display (and in use) is the Twyford Galerie Flushwise WC suite. The Flushwise operates on a reduced 4 and 2.6 litre flush as opposed to the most modern suites which use 6 and 4 litre flushes.

We did’nt test drive the Flushwise on our brief visit, but we heard great feedback from those lucky enough to have used it.

The washbasins within the SBC are kitted out with Saracen infra-red taps which only operate when the beam underneath the spout is broken. How many times do you see an unattended running tap in public loos.

Hidden away from public view are the rainwater harvesting units. The Titan Envireau Rainwater Harvesting unit, for example is buried deep underground and uses a silent pump to provide rainwater for the WCs. If the water level drops, for example during the summer, it tops up by taking water from the mains.

To help avoid any future water shortage, we in the construction and plumbing industry have an urgent responsibility to adopt the products and technologies showcased with the SBC.

This entry was posted on Friday, July 10th, 2009 at 2:04 pm and is filed under BHL visit Wolseley Sustainable Building Center. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.