American Standard Certifies Urinals and Flush Valves to WaterSense® Criteria
 WaterSense-certified high efficiency urinals cut water usage up to 87 percent
American Standard announced that its high efficiency urinals and flush-valve options meet or exceed the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) WaterSense® program requirements for high performance and water efficiency, making it the one of the first major plumbing manufacturers to meet these rigorous requirements.
The EPA's WaterSense program requires commercial urinals to use no more than 0.5 gallon per flush (gpf) — 50 percent lower than the current federal standard of 1.0 gpf — while also meeting such performance standards as flush effectiveness and post-flush seal restoration.
The American Standard® line of high efficiency urinals, which features FloWise® water-saving technology, exceeds these requirements, operating between 0.5 gpf and 0.125 gpf — thereby cutting water use by as much as 87 percent.
The designation marks the WaterSense program's first non-residential plumbing product specification aimed at helping commercial and institutional facility managers identify high-performing, water efficient product solutions.
"With this new WaterSense program specification, contractors, engineers, architects, owners and developers, as well as their facility teams, can easily distinguish products that meet best in-class performance and water conservation criteria," explains Jeremy Cressman, vice president and general manager, commercial trade, for American Standard. "WaterSense-certified urinals and urinal systems — such as the American Standard Washbrook®, Allbrook®, and our Selectronic® flush-valves — will drastically reduce water consumption in commercial restrooms, without sacrificing style or performance."
Cressman also noted that the top-rated Crane® brand urinals — notably the Eco Richmond™and Eco Crawford™models also meet WaterSense certification standards.
According to the EPA, approximately 65 percent of the estimated 12 million urinals in the United States are inefficient. While the current federal standard for commercial urinals is 1.0 gpf, the agency notes that some older urinals use as much as 5.0 gpf, which is 90 percent more water than used by the new American Standard high efficiency urinals and flush valves. The LEED green building certification program, administered by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), recommends selection of high efficiency WaterSense-certified urinals as a strategy to increase water efficiency and reduce overall potable water demand.
Replacing just one older, inefficient urinal that uses 1.5 gpf with a WaterSense certified model could save a facility approximately 4,600 gallons of water a year. Nationwide, if all older, inefficient urinals were replaced, nearly 45 billion gallons of water could be saved annually — enough to supply 450,000 households for a year, estimates the EPA.
Certification of the American Standard and Crane urinal products was independently verified by the International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials' (IAPMO) research and testing laboratory, in accordance with the EPA's WaterSense program requirements.
American Standard offers a full range of water-saving plumbing products for homes and buildings, searchable at http://www.responsiblebathroom.com/. Site tools include a calculator to estimate the potential savings in water and utility bills using local municipal water rate data, as well as a rebate locator to find local incentives for purchasing water efficient products.
For more information on FloWise urinals or other WaterSense-certified products from American Standard, visit http://www.americanstandard.com/ or call (800) 899-2614.
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