But think about this: The typical urinal in a public building, office, school, department store, uses 1.5 to 2 gallons of water per flush. About 40,000 gallons per year, according to industry studies. Multiply by all those bazillions of urinals out there and the trickle becomes a flood, or, shall we say, a great lake.
Which explains why the new YMCA building in downtown Grand Rapids, designed to qualify for certification as environmentally sustainable, features no-water urinals in its bathrooms.
"Anywhere we can conserve, we've done it," says Donald McCarthy, the Y's chief operating officer. "We also have water-constricting shower heads."
Such gadgetry has been around for years where water is scarce. But now it's showing up in the Great Lakes region, as a budding conservation ethic and the age-old desire to save money inspire efforts to use less water without sacrificing productivity or quality.
Posted by Dave at December 3, 2005 01:14 PM