Keeping that in mind, I'll answer your last question, the one about waterless urinals and commercial applications, first. Yes, waterless urinals are a great choice for commercial applications and actually were originally designed for such heavy-use situations. A waterless urinal installed in a busy commercial bathroom, perhaps an airport, can save up to 40,000 gallons of water per year per urinal!

That's the good news. The bad news is that since they use no water they require a little extra maintenance work. But it's well worth it for the water-saving potential. The extra maintenance work is basically just spraying the urinal with the factory cleaning fluids once a day and changing the urinal trap fluid twice a month.

This leads is to your second question: how they work. The secret is the special trap fluid that floats on top of heavier liquids inside the urinal drain trap. The trap fluid is an odor absorbing fluid that seals the top of the trap and all the heavier liquids entering the urinal pass through the lighter trap fluid and go down the drain. Twice a month the waterless urinal trap is washed out by pouring a bucket of water down the drain and then resealing the trap by pouring a cup of the environmentally friendly fluid back into the trap. That should answer all your questions, Bill, even though I just gave you some "watered down" information!

Q: Ed, help! I have water leaking in over a kitchen cabinet. But it does not leak all the time. There are no water lines in the area and I first thought it was a leak in the roof and replaced some shingles only to find that did not help. There is a plumbing vent pipe that goes across the area. Can a vent pipe leak? The water has destroyed the cabinet and we don't have a clue as to where the leak is coming from. What next? - Fred, Chicago

A: Fred, in my many years as a service repair person I have encountered man
... read the whole article