How to Reduce Struvite Build Up

Water on Earth is a limited resource, used and reused in a never-ending cycle. Increasing water demands are requiring us to use water more wisely and are also making water scarcity a pressing issue for many communities around the world, including the U.S.

We cannot afford to ignore our responsibility to conserve water any longer.

After the Federal Policy Act of 1992 (EPAct), state and local municipalities and certifications such as LEED have been changing the direction of green building, making plumbing manufacturers design better performing products to replace the inefficient older technologies.

A pretty terrific idea, since 67 years ago a toilet needed 7 gallons per flush! Can you believe that? What a waste!

However, for a system built for high volume flushes, these new High-Efficiency Urinals (HEUs) are encountering unforeseen performance issues, and two of the most common negative perceptions about high-efficiency urinals are excessive odor and clogged drain lines.

Foul odors are usually attributed to bacteria. However, bacteria, as any other living organism on this planet, require water to survive and reproduce, making improper maintenance the primary cause of bad-smelling restrooms.

Clogged drain lines can also cause backups and odor. Both conventional and water-free urinals create two different types of biosolid buildup. When a trickling pint of water is mixed with urine in conventional urinals, an extremely hard substance called ‘calcite forms, , which can only be removed by a mechanical auger. In contrast, without water, urine forms a soft and water soluble substance known as ‘struvite’, which can cause blockages over time but unlike calcite, struvite can be easily removed with water and a brush.

You can reduce struvite build-up by:

Multiple studies have indicated that when urinals shared a main horizontal drain line with other fixtures—sinks, toilets, and showers, it can dramatically reduce the solid build up, or better yet, use Falcon’s hybrid technology, which works as a waterfree urinal on a daily basis and automatically flushes a gallon of water every 72 hours, helping you save millions of water a year. And, did I already mention it gives you maximum LEED credits?