by Brianna Crandall — January 22, 2016—The U.K.’s largest water and waste water services provider, which supplies 15 million homes and business premises, is setting an example of saving the precious commodity of water by reducing toilet and basin water usage in its own buildings.
Following the success of a recent water efficiency trial, Thames Water has opted to install Propelair toilets throughout its Clearwater Court Headquarters, Walnut Court offices, and Spencer House site.
The Propelair system uses displaced air and only 1.5 liters per flush, reducing commercial water and sewage bills by up to 60%.
Trials at Clearwater Court in Reading, where Thames Water has replaced some of its existing low-flush toilets (which averaged 6.2 liters per flush) with Propelair models (1.5 liters), is expected to result in saving 81% of the water used in the men’s and ladies’ restrooms.
Thames Water started its water-saving initative with the restrooms since they account for the majority of the water used (up to 90%) in most premises. The Propelair system reportedly cuts usage on each flush by an average of 84%.
By the end of March, the whole building will be converted to Propelair toilets, which are expected to deliver savings of around 1.5 million liters a year, worth £3,220 per annum.
Facilities management company EMCOR, which maintains all Thames Water sites, was reportedly impressed at the water savings.
The Propelair system
The Propelair system (view the video on the site) operates using displaced air and a fraction of the water used by most conventional toilets, which average 9 liters per flush in the U.K. The closed lid eliminates aerosolized bacteria spreading around the washroom when flushing.
For leak-proof operation, water is delivered through a siphon. Maintenance is minimized because the bowl has no rim for germs to hide in, and the seat is a new design to prevent it from moving on its pins. Propelair toilets can be installed easily as a replacement unit or in a new build.
Less energy is required for water and waste processing, so the toilet’s carbon footprint is reduced by approximately 80%. Propelair also reduces commercial water and sewage bills by up to 60%. Flushing takes 3 seconds, and the toilet is ready to re-flush in 20 seconds (not the 2-3 minutes of conventional toilets), cutting down restroom queues.
Certifications
According to the company, Propelair has all the relevant approvals and reaches the highest performance rating under the BREEAM water efficiency guidelines. It reportedly exceeds U.K. environmental planning legislation and has the BSI Kitemark, WRAS and ISO9001 globally recognized standards.
Finance program
To make life easy for environmentally friendly organizations that want to show the world they care, Propelair has a finance program whereby the toilets can be paid for out of the water savings, so any site can have this product immediately for no extra cost.
Other installations
According to Propelair’s announcement as the company began its third year, the technology has already been adopted by a number of local authorities, and its many benefits are being recognized by the education sector, too, with a recent installation at Cardiff University. The Lyceum Theatre has also requested an installation for the New Year.
