School District Reduces Consumption Up To 20% 

Socorro, Texas School District Reduces Water Consumption Up To 20% in Multiple Facilities

Located in southeastern El Paso County, Texas, the Socorro Independent School District (SISD) is clearly not near abundant, inexpensive water supplies.  Plus, SISD is one of the fastest growing districts in the state, making water availability and increased usage and cost a constant concern for the future.

As a result, any technology with the potential to reduce water consumption ranks high on the list of improvements for the district to investigate.  In Mid-2001, SISD began an investigation of Waterfree Urinals by replacing manual one gallon-per-flush units with seven Waterfree Urinals in the restrooms of the district’s state-of-the-art Aquatic Center.

Skepticism becomes Support

Representatives of the district admitted to being a little skeptical about the concept, but they couldn’t walk away from the possibility that Waterfree Urinals could help meet their water conservation goals.  

Today, the district happily admits that all the promises made for Waterfree Urinals came true.  The initial test installation resulted in a 15–20% decrease in water usage at the Aquatic Center.  The water and sewer savings alone were enough to pay for the urinals in less than two years.    

Socorro Stadium was the next installation for SISD.  The stadium serves four high schools and doubles as a practice field for visiting teams at the Sun Bowl in El Paso.  In early 2003, 14 urinals were installed at the stadium.  The estimated total water savings at this location currently ranges from 10–15% per year.   

SISD has also completely retrofitted two elementary schools, which were high water users due to outdated high-flow valves and fixtures.  Each school received 10 urinals.  Total water savings are estimated to be from 15–20% at both locations.  “We’re currently saving at least $100 to $200 per urinal per year,” says Joe Covarrubias, SISD Maintenance Coordinator.  “And with fewer flush fixtures, my maintenance crews save at least one day per week in labor,” Covarrubias adds.  

Maintenance Crew are Zealous Converts

Of course the Waterfree Urinals also had to be accepted by the maintenance crews.  That has been no concern, according to Covarrubias.  “Before we installed the urinals, my crews had to visit the Activity Complex one or two times per week just to fix urinals.  Kids were always putting something in the flush urinals and clogging them up.”  Repairing flush units damaged by vandalism was also time-consuming,” Covarrubias adds.  “My crews have a full-time schedule of jobs without having to find time for emergency repairs.  Vandalism simply isn’t a problem with the Waterfree Urinals.  I wish the district would install them everywhere.”

“Sanitary and odor-free”

“We were also amazed at how sanitary and odor-free these Waterfree Urinals are,” adds Covarrubias.  “The overall hygiene in our restrooms has improved dramatically.  And cleaning crews are actually spending less time on each restroom since there is no hardware on the urinals to wipe down and polish.  I personally would like to see the entire district go to these urinals.  Not only will the district save a great deal of money and water using this new system, my crews will be able to do more, as the new urinals eliminate the constant emergency repairs we’ve had to deal with in the past.”

“There is also the additional and very tangible benefit of conserving precious water supplies for the rest of the community.  Every drop we can save not only lowers our costs and concerns for the future, but we’re making a contribution toward managing resources for our entire area.”

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The SISD Aquatic Center is used for regional swim team competitions and use by all students in the district. Waterfree Urinals have reduced water usage at this facility by 15-20%.