One of the advantages of using urinals that do not use water is the cost saving achieved by lower water bills. These urinals contain a cartridge that must be replaced after a specified number of uses. Care must be taken to ensure that the cost of the type of waterless urinal cartridge required by the urinal does not exceed the value of the water saved.
Here are some questions to ask:
- How long does the cartridge usually last before it needs to be replaced?
- Is it necessary to add a sealant to the cartridge during replacement and at regular intervals during the life cycle of the cartridge? If so, is this sealant supplied with the cartridge (enough for the initial installation and all necessary top ups) or must it be purchased separately?
- How sensitive is the cartridge to normal bathroom cleaning materials? If special cleaning supplies must be purchased and utilized, this can add significantly to the indirect costs associated with using that particular type of waterless urinal cartridge.
Often, people responsible for the maintenance of waterless urinals assume that they can only use a waterless urinal cartridge supplied by the manufacturer of the urinal (for example, brands like Kohler, Sloan, Falcon, and others). This is not necessarily the case, as there are replacement cartridges available that perform as well or better than manufacturer’s cartridges at a lower overall cost.
For example, the Smarty Bee range does not use expensive sealants and does not require the use of special cleaning materials – making it a sensible cost-effective option for waterless urinal cartridge replacement.