Most waterless urinals, then, are more than an ordinary urinal without the capacity to flush. A cartridge of liquid sealant sits on top of the drain in a waterless urinal.

Ten years ago, the waterless urinals were practically unheard of, with only two U.S. states permitting the devices in their building codes. Now the government is pushing for them to become the norm.

But Krug made a conceptual breakthrough: The real profits wouldn't come from the urinals themselves. They'd come from selling the replaceable cartridges that sat in each of the waterless receptacles.

The urinal cartridges must be refilled with fluid every so often, since some of the fluid goes into the drain with every use, Brixen said. But not having to maintain the flushing mechanism of a ...

Plumbing codes never contemplated a urinal without water. As a result, Falcon's [a company trying to sell waterless urinals] fixtures couldn't be installed legally in most parts of the country.

Replacing urinals that flush with waterless urinals will save millions of gallons of water. This is a case of low-hanging fruit. Get concise answers to your questions. Try Ask The Post AI.

Now, I walk to a different building to use a restroom with a urinal that flushes. This means that the waterless urinals aren't saving any water on my account, they're merely inconveniencing me.

Matt Korcinsky with waterless products at Falcon’s office in West Los Angeles. In famously fastidious Japan, urinals that don’t flush are seen by some as a health hazard. In the strict city ...

In the 1990s, sealant-filled cartridges for waterless urinals were introduced. “Those cartridges took the ‘ugh’ factor out of the maintenance,” says Mr. Goble.

Waterless toilets, he explained, work well but require maintenance such as replacing cartridges and frequent cleaning. "It gets quite specific on what you have to do," said Hughes.