Maintenance Managers Use Plumbing Systems to Wage War on Water Waste test

By Dave Lubach, Associate Editor

November 2015

No matter where institutional and commercial facilities are located — whether in drought-stricken California or the rainy Pacific Northwest — water conservation remains a top priority for maintenance and engineering managers. As a result restrooms have become focal points for trying to achieve water-saving goals.

“The biggest water hog in most commercial buildings, with exception to process water, is the restroom,” says Patrick Boyle of Sloan Valve Co. “It’s the only room in the building, besides the lobby, that almost every occupant will visit. Updating that room to high-performing and highly efficient products can offer the building owner and management affordable water savings.”

Flow rates for toilets, urinals and faucets have dropped dramatically in recent years as manufacturers have responded to the need of facilities to curtail water use due to rising costs and limited supply. They have developed products that meet the demand, but can flow rates go even lower, and what can managers do to help further curtail water use in their facilities?