Case Studies

Stand Up for the Earth is a new initiative committed to creating more sustainable, environmentally friendly buildings. We hope the success of these featured organizations encourages you to accelerate the use of green building products and technologies in your organization. We are ready to help you find available green building rebates and technical assistance. Just give us a call or send us an email.

Here are a few success stories we are proud to share:

Lee County Schools—A Model of Sustainability Practices Put into Action

Introduction
Lee County Schools is a large school district located in North Carolina. There are nearly 10,000 students in 14 schools. For the past decade, Zurn has been working hand in hand with the district to minimize water use, while raising the bar regarding hygiene and convenience with the school’s myriad bathroom facilities.

Lee County Schools is also heavily committed to the green/sustainability movement, and this is exemplified by the fact that the school district has an energy committee to help each of the schools discover ways of becoming more sustainable.

Jerry Pittman is the director of maintenance and facilities at Lee County Schools in North Carolina. He has been impressed by the local presence of Zurn—from their sustainable product selections to delivery and product performance.

Installation of Zurn EcoVantage Products
Various EcoVantage products have been both tested and installed throughout the school district, including the Zurn Pint Urinal System, which only uses 0.125 gallons per flush versus .5 gallons per flush of typical urinals. The Zurn Pint Urinal System can save up to 30,000 gallons of water a year.

EcoVantage toilets, which have been installed at several schools as well, use just 1.28 gallons per flush.

Zurn EcoVantage products have also been installed at J.R. Ingrams Junior Elementary School and J. Glen Edwards Elementary School.

At Greenwood Elementary School, the facilities department had a challenging septic system problem, and the combination of the waterless urinals, pint urinals, water saving faucets, and 2.7/2.4 gallon toilets solved the challenge.

For several schools in the school district, the maintenance department has also installed EcoVantage flush valves and rings from Zurn.

Zurn EcoVantage Waterless urinals have been installed at East Lee Middle School, West Lee Middle School and Greenwood Elementary School.

The Results
Attributable to the waterless Zurn urinals installed at East Lee Middle School, West Lee Middle School and Greenwood Elementary School, these three schools are garnering 2/3 water savings over previous performance of the typical urinals in the school bathrooms.

According to Zurn, the school’s savings is approximately 40%. Savings have been on both parts and materials as well. Furthermore, by implementing Zurn bathroom fixtures and parts, facilities staff has noticed that plumbing products last much longer than they previously had.

The installation of EcoVantage flush valves and rings throughout the school district’s various facilities has resulted in even further water savings and minimized common plumbing difficulties.

Jerry Pittman says, “We have had a long and fruitful partnership with Zurn. They have a local office right in town, and have been instrumental in meeting and exceeding our sustainability goals. Sales representatives and technical staff from Zurn have been extremely responsive to our needs. We have not only saved money on parts and avoided maintenance hassles, but we also have significantly cut our school district’s water usage.”

University of Southern California Unveils Zurn EcoVantage
Pint Urinal System

Field Report
In the past, University of Southern California (USC) installed non-flushing urinals in some of their campus facilities. Over time, campus personnel observed a build-up of what they believed to be uric acids in the traps, drains and drain lines in, and behind, the non-flushing urinals. University staff became concerned that the lack of water flowing through the non-flushing fixtures allowed uric acid to crystallize and adhere to the inside diameter of the drain system, thereby constricting flow within the system. The University began investigating alternative water-saving plumbing fixture options.

The EcoVantage Pint Urinal Study
In January 2007, officials at USC installed two low consumption Zurn EcoVantage Pint Urinal Systems at their maintenance facility. This location was chosen intentionally as an installation representative of typical usage and conditions. Additionally, the restrooms in which these systems were installed were used on a daily basis by the plumbing and maintenance staff, allowing for on-going observation and comment on the performance of the EcoVantage Pint Urinal.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the performance of the EcoVantage Pint Urinal System over a six-month period to determine its reliability and functionality, as well as to measure the amount, if any, of uric acid crystallization in the trap and/or drain system.

Results
Throughout the six-month trial period, EcoVantage Pint Urinals, operating with 0.125 gallons per flush, performed reliably, and University staff noticed no functional difference between them and conventional urinal/flush valve combinations using 0.5 gallons per flush or greater.

On Thursday, June 7, 2007, University staff gathered to uninstall one EcoVantage Pint Urinal and examine the condition of the trap, drain and drain line. When the EcoVantage Pint Urinal was removed from the wall, those observing noticed no build-up, crystallization or constriction of any kind in the trap or drain behind the system.
In additional to USC Plumbing staff, also in attendance were:

Patrick J. Ternan – Zurn Industries, LLC
Ken Borgquist – Westmark Enterprises, Inc.
Solomon Robinson – Los Angeles Unified School District
James Hicks – Los Angeles Unified School District
Murphy Malone – California Science Center
Nathan Miranda – California Science Center

Conclusion
The Zurn EcoVantage Pint Urinal System provides sufficient flow in a normal installation, under typical conditions, to flush the trap, drain and drain lines and prevent uric acid build-up and line constriction.

Follow-Up
The University of Southern California has adopted Zurn’s EcoVantage Pint Urinal System as the standard in their New Construction specifications.