# Zurn waterless urinal review



## EbS-P (Aug 21, 2021)

We had did a big renovation. I decided that with my self and four boys in the house a urinal was a good option for the main upstairs bathroom.   I liked the idea of a waterless urinal as an environmentally friendly option.   And I think they look better in a residential bathroom.    After 16 months of use I thought I would share my thoughts about the Zurn waterless urinal.    


For a house with lots of boys age 10-3 it’s been really nice. It’s so much much easier to clean on and around than a toilet. And the floor stays cleaner. For that reason alone I highly recommend it.

however the regular 3000 use maintenance schedule is completely misleading. My guess is that would be about 3 months in our house. And cleaning out the trap is GROSS. Easily the worst household task I have ever done. I can get by cleaning it out every 6 weeks but really should do every 4.

who ever designed this has never had to clean one out. I can almost guarantee it. We came home from a two week vacation to find it completely clogged. I removed the trap but the clog was after the trap.

cost: about the same as a nice toilet (pre covid) Inspector required water to be run to the waterless urinal. It takes a 2” drain pipe. 

Savings:  Not much money.  I’m guessing it saves 5-10,000 gallons year or 5-10%.  The sealant (4-6) ounces  ever 4-6 weeks is $80 a gallon.    

the smell: not bad no worse than a toilet that 4 boys are using come cleaning day. Nice after maintaining as the sealant (soya oil) is perfumed.  Everyone said we would hate it and we would be tearing it out. It’s fine.  

For a house with lots of boys it’s great. (If you can stomach the cleaning. did I say is was gross?). It keeps the kids out the the master bath (the only other bathroom upstairs) 95 % of the time).    

There you go.  Saving the world one trip to the bathroom at a time.

Evan


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## clancey (Aug 21, 2021)

I think it is a good idea especially with a household of mainly men..Its sad that they  do not work on the cleaning aspect of it--automatic maybe like a dishwater or something with suds and hot water connected when you push it on...There must be a way to help  that situation..I did not even know they had them for household use--that's  how I am not updated on this important everyday function..clancey


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## begreen (Aug 21, 2021)

They installed waterless toilets about a decade ago in the men's rooms at our corporate offices.  IIRC there was a biofilter involved that used anaerobic bacteria to break the urine down. I don't recall the brand, but odor was not an issue. The water savings when multiplied times 24 urinals really adds up. I see that the headquarters building now has Falcon urinals.


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## SpaceBus (Aug 22, 2021)

I just sit down to pee and close the lid when I flush my normal toilet and nothing gets urine on it. Went for 25 years peeing into sit down toilets from a standing position until one day a woman asked if I could just sit to pee and not splash urine all over the toilet seat and lid. Being an oblivious man I never knew that's how the toilet and area around it got so nasty. My whole childhood of being asked "are you just going everywhere?" made a lot more sense to me after that. Now I only go standing up if I'm outside. Haven't had to clean urine off the toilet ever since.


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## EbS-P (Aug 22, 2021)

SpaceBus said:


> I just sit down to pee and close the lid when I flush my normal toilet and nothing gets urine on it. Went for 25 years peeing into sit down toilets from a standing position until one day a woman asked if I could just sit to pee and not splash urine all over the toilet seat and lid. Being an oblivious man I never knew that's how the toilet and area around it got so nasty. My whole childhood of being asked "are you just going everywhere?" made a lot more sense to me after that. Now I only go standing up if I'm outside. Haven't had to clean urine off the toilet ever since.


That’s sir is well said!


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## brenndatomu (Aug 22, 2021)

Our local grocery chain installed the waterless urinals in the mens restroom...they often had a little smell to them...dunno why, but they put standard urinals back in after a couple years.


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## peakbagger (Aug 22, 2021)

I worked in a ultra modern office in VT that had waterless urinals. They used floating oil to act as a trap. When they worked they worked well but the janitors hated them as they required more routine maintenance. Hair in the strainer was particularly a problem.


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## EbS-P (Aug 22, 2021)

brenndatomu said:


> dunno why


Clean one and you will know why.


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## Bad LP (Aug 22, 2021)

Piss on the seat or not cleaning up your splashes growing up was not a option. My father would straighten that behavior rather quickly. 
A few years ago my wife and I also had a huge boxer that would not drink water out of his dish. He would only drink out of the bowl after a flush. He wanted the cold water. 
Being our house is just the two of us keeping bathrooms clean was easy. Our friends are also not pigs. 

In real life urinals are still filthy. I can’t figure out how some expensive waterless fixture prevents that.


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## begreen (Aug 22, 2021)

Bad LP said:


> In real life urinals are still filthy. I can’t figure out how some expensive waterless fixture prevents that.


Waterless or watered, they still need daily cleaning when heavily used. Some people are pigs in public.


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## Bad LP (Aug 23, 2021)

begreen said:


> Waterless or watered, they still need daily cleaning when heavily used. Some people are pigs in public.


Pigs at home as well.


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## semipro (Aug 24, 2021)

We thought about installing a waterless urinal at our place and appreciate this kind of feedback. 

I kinda hate to admit where I pee a lot.  Let's just say that with 5 acres and privacy there are a lot of options.
Given what comprises urine and its fertilizer value it's kind of a shame we can't recycle it somehow.
I'm doing my part though.


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## begreen (Aug 24, 2021)

semipro said:


> We thought about installing a waterless urinal at our place and appreciate this kind of feedback.
> 
> I kinda hate to admit where I pee a lot.  Let's just say that with 5 acres and privacy there are a lot of options.
> Given what comprises urine and its fertilizer value it's kind of a shame we can't recycle it somehow.
> I'm doing my part though.


Yeah, I pee outside too. I can't see traipsing into the house with garden shoes and dirty hands just to pee. 
I have a friend that keeps a 5 gallon bucket filled with biochar on their deck. They have total privacy there, so peeing in the bucket is the norm. They even have a toilet seat for the missus. The biochar keeps it 100% odor free. It stays that way for several months. Then, they put the soaked biochar around plants to feed them. It is ridiculously high in nitrogen so a little goes a long way.


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## tlc1976 (Aug 24, 2021)

semipro said:


> We thought about installing a waterless urinal at our place and appreciate this kind of feedback.
> 
> I kinda hate to admit where I pee a lot.  Let's just say that with 5 acres and privacy there are a lot of options.
> Given what comprises urine and its fertilizer value it's kind of a shame we can't recycle it somehow.
> I'm doing my part though.


We only had 1 bathroom growing up (and lived a mile from any neighbors) so my dad and I used to pee in the clover patch behind the shed. Well I was also interested in collecting 4 leaf clovers. So I noticed something odd in this patch. There were 4, 5, 6, and 7 leaf clovers. Guess we super fertilized them. I picked one of each and pressed them in a book to frame them but they dried up and fell apart.


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## clancey (Aug 24, 2021)

Your as crazy as I was--superstitious--I used to collect four leaf clovers and put them in a book and I ended up with four of them and mailed them to friends for good luck..When I was young we had our favorite spot on the way to the shore and I bet that is fertilized as well.Should go there and see if there are any clovers--lol lol...May we all have good Irish luck with wonderful health..clancey


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