Dissolving a wee problem

Men's toilets are notorious for being smelly, unpleasant places. Cleaners hate cleaning them, maintenance engineers hate maintaining them. However hard you try, it is extremely difficult to keep them looking fresh, and smelling of cut flowers.

Most pubs and restaurants use "pineapple chunks", blocks of chemicals which vaporise gradually in the urinal. But a much more efficient system is now available for urinal bowls from Serious Waste Management (SWM) which distributes and installs the units for manufacturer Envirofresh. SWM managing director David Birkett claims the units could save licensees up to 96 per cent of their water costs relating to urinals. Surely an opportunity, in this day and age of drought and water restrictions, not to be sniffed at!

Living bacteria

Sani-Sleeve is a container of living, natural bacteria which is fitted into the waste outlet. The bacteria are activated by warm liquid and get to work digesting the body fats and uric acid, softening hair and dissolving limescale, all of which help to clog up the system.

The Sani-Sleeve has to be replaced about four times a year, but a three-year contract is available to pubs which includes all replacements and maintenance. Licensees can simply sign the contract and forget about it, while your customers appreciate your clean, sweet-smelling loos.

The one disadvantage of the product is that it only works on urinal bowls so you need an alternative solution for troughs which does not involve "pineapple chunks". There is considerable concern that the chemicals found in most blocks may be carcinogenic. But now an organic version of the blocks is available, based on citrus fruits.

These do not dissolve into the atmosphere so there is none of the early morning eye-smarting smell which is a characteristic of the traditional chunks. The micro-organisms they contain work efficiently in the urinals and traps, on the pipes and drains, digesting all the waste outlined above.

Cutting back on blockages

If a toilet is blocked, it usually has to be closed while the problem is dealt with but the Sani-Sleeve and the biological toss blocks reduce blockages almost to zero. In trials, maintenance costs for one building were reduced from almost £3,000 a year to £100 (and that wasn't a toilet-related problem!).

Because the bacteria are cleaning up the urine, less water is needed for flushing and concerns over the health risks of urinal blocks are eliminated. The Sani-Sleeve's manufacturer says water costs can be drastically reduced from around £230 a year for each urinal to just £10, meaning the system will pay for itself within 18 months.

Case study: the Richard John Blacker, Liverpool

JD Wetherspoon pub the Richard John Blacker in Liverpool put an end to complaints about foul smells in the gents urinals with the units.

The washroom was being cleaned on a regular basis, and a chemical dosing system and water management system were put in place - but they did little to combat the awful stench from the urinals.

The existing chemical dosing system was disconnected, the Sani-Sleeve equipment was fitted to the urinals, and the water management system replaced with Enviro-Fresh UC2. The water flushing was set to only six flushes a day.

The product is now being replaced quarterly to ensure the continuing effectiveness of the biological enzymes that line the sleeve.

Further advice

For more advice and tips, and to join Hospitable Climates free energy-saving programme, visit www.hospitableclimates.co.uk or call 0800 585794.

Tell us about your energy bills - and how you are working to reduce them. Contact us at news@thepublican.com or call 020 7955 3710.