City officials approved the use of waterless, no-flush urinals Wednesday at what will be Philadelphia's tallest skyscraper -- but only after reaching an agreement with plumbers.
PHILADELPHIA — City officials approved the use of waterless, no-flush urinals Wednesday at what will be Philadelphia's tallest skyscraper -- but only after reaching an agreement with plumbers.
In a deal that attested to the clout of the city's unions, the developer agreed to a five-year trial of the 116 urinals. The developer is barred from installing the urinals in any other buildings in Philadelphia during that period, and they will have to be replaced with water-using units if they do not work as billed.
Liberty Property Trust is hoping to claim the honor of America's tallest environmentally friendly building with the construction of the 57-story Comcast Center. The plumbers' opposition had put that bid in jeopardy.
While raising health and safety issues, plumbers were also worried about whether the adoption of the new technology would lead to other changes that could cut into their work.
The deal was approved by Philadelphia's plumbing review board.
At the Comcast Center, Liberty will still install regular water lines as a backup in case the urinals have to be replaced with regular units. But Liberty officials said that was not a concession to the plumbers; they said they had done the same in all 12 of their other projects that use no-flush urinals.
"We've always added the piping in the back whether we add waterless urinals or not," said John Gattuso, a company senior vice president.
A call to Plumbers Union Local 690 was not immediately returned.
The no-flush units are expected to save at least 1.6 million gallons of water a year. Instead of water, a replaceable cartridge at the base traps odors and sediment as waste passes through. The technology has been in use since the early 1990s.
Source: Associated Press
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