CMX 2004 - Plumbing & HVAC

Industry News
Low flush revisited
Test accuracy improved, results still poor
By Simon Blake
Ajoint Canadian/U.S. study on the
flush performance and water-use
of six-litre toilets goes to extreme
lengths to ensure that the information is
accurate. Unfortunately, the results
weren’t much better for the manufacturers
than in previous tests.
Conducted by the Canadian Water
and Wastewater Association (CWWA)
on behalf of 19 municipalities in
Canada and the U.S. along with the
Canadian Mortgage and Housing
Corporation (CMHC), the primary
financial backer, and the B.C. Buildings
Corporation, the $150,000 the test
looked at over 80 popular low flush toilets.
Of these, 44 were purchased off the
shelf. The other 37 were supplied by
manufacturers and tested separately.
Municipalities that offer subsidies to
home/building owners have long been
concerned that flush performance tests
outlined in the CSA B-45 standard
don’t accurately reflect toilet performance,
reported Duncan Ellison, CWWA
executive director. “Municipalities were
concerned that if they were to offer a
75-dollar subsidy for installing a sixlitre
toilet, that they should actually
flush six litres.”
Manufacturers criticized a study conducted
two years ago, saying the breakfast
cereal used to measure flush performance
didn’t accurately imitate
human waste.
A test team lead by William Gauley,
P. Eng., went to great lengths to get it
right this time. Canadian tests were
conducted at Veritec Consulting Inc. in
Mississauga, Ont. The ‘Maximum Performance
Test’ used a soybean-based
paste developed with a density, moisture
content, etc. very close to that of
human waste.
A British medical study determined
that the average size of human waste
(We’re trying to be as polite as possible
here – ed) is 250 grams for a male and
slightly less for a female. Therefore, the
soybean paste was formed into stools
measuring four inches long and just less
than one inch in diameter. Four loosely
crumpled balls of toilet paper were
included in each test.
All toilets were assembled, placed on
a test stand and connected to a water
supply. Tank water levels were set to the
water line and flush volumes were
recorded. Adjustments were made
where required to ensure all samples
flushed at the rated volume (typically
six litres).
However, approximately half the toilets
tested failed to efficiently flush the
benchmark 250 grams.
The soybean ‘turds’ were loaded in
50-gram increments until the toilets
failed to efficiently flush. Of the 44 offthe-shelf
models, 20 flushed less than
250 grams, 13 flushed between 250 and
500 and 11 models flushed over 500.
Two models – one gravity operated and
the other pressure assisted – flushed
over 800 grams.
All models tested achieved a minimum
water exchange (change-out) rate
of 98 per cent, even those toilets that
cleared only 100 grams of solids, leading
researchers to question the validity
of this test to identify superior performing
toilets.
About one-third of the off-the-shelf
models flushed more than six litres of water,
with a high of 9.5 litres, and a low of 3.6.
A number of models were tested with
a standard (universal) replacement flapper.
(This wasn’t performed on models
where a standard flapper couldn’t be
used.) More than 70 per cent showed a
significant increase in water use, with
the highest jumping to almost 16 litres
per flush.
The full test report, with names of
manufacturers, toilet models and test
results, is available on the CWWA web
site at www.cwwa.ca.
Randy, left, and Dave Bykowsky of Energy Saving Products Ltd., Edmonton, Alta.,
hauled their 6000 hp nitro-methane burning drag racer to the AHR Expo and
drew considerable interest for their high velocity heating/cooling equipment.
Largest west coast show
The recent AHR Expo set records for a
west coast show in virtually every category.
North America’s largest annual
HVAC/R show took place at the
Anaheim, Calif. Convention Centre
Jan. 26-28.
In total, 22,000 registered visitors
(not including exhibitor personnel)
viewed products from 1,652 exhibiting
companies on 324,590 sq. ft. of exhibit
space. Roughly 100 Canadian exhibitors
participated. The event coincided
with the ASHRAE technical sessions.
The next AHR EXPO will take place in
Orlando, Florida, Feb. 7-9, 2005.
Ontario plumbers,
builders dodge a bullet
By Simon Blake
The province of Ontario will allow
acrylic tubs in buildings over 18
metres or six stories, without requiring
a fire sprinkler system.
The Ontario Ministry of Municipal
Affairs amended the Ontario Building
Code, effective Feb. 20, to allow fixtures
with a smoke developed classification
up to 500 – which acrylic fixtures meet
– if they are ‘installed in buildings used
for residential occupancies, and the
plumbing fixture is located in a room
where the wall surfaces have a smoke
developed classification not more than
200.’ Or in other words, as long as the
building materials surrounding the fixtures
have a smoke developed classification
of less than 200, the fixtures themselves
can exceed that level.
A ruling last fall by a building inspector
in Burlington, Ont. sent panic
through the Ontario construction
industry by invoking a seldomenforced
section of the Ontario Building
Code that barred the use of acrylic
tubs in high-rise buildings because they
couldn’t meet the minimum requirements
for smoke developed in the event
of a fire. Thousands of acrylic soaker
tubs have been installed across Ontario
over the past ten years.
The situation became even more
critical on Feb. 9 when the City of
Toronto sent a notice to building permit
applicants, the design community
and builders that Ontario Building
Code Article 3.1.13.7, which prohibits a
smoke-developed level over 300, would
be enforced. While not prohibiting
occupancy, the city announced that it
would issue deficiency notices where
acrylic fixtures were installed.
The Canadian Industry of Plumbing
and Heating, along with the Plumbing
Industry Advisory Council, lobbied the
ministry to amend the code. Had they
not been successful, builders would have
had to revert to steel tubs. And there were
also liability concerns over the thousands
of acrylic tubs already installed.
Ontario is the only province that
doesn’t require sprinkler systems in residential
high-rise buildings over six
stories.
In Brief
RMC wants cylinders
40 per cent full
Refrigerant Management Canada
(RMC) advises contractors that
refrigerant cylinders must be at
least 40 per cent full to be accepted
by the RMC refrigerant collection
program for disposal. RMC
participating wholesale staff are
being asked to weigh cylinders
when they come in to ensure the
minimum capacity is met. RMC
warns that if under-filled cylinders
continue to be turned in, collection
costs will rise and the current
$1/kg levy may have to be
increased. For more information,
contact RMC at 1-866-622-0209.
RMC reports CFC stocks
Speaking of refrigerants,
Refrigerant Management Canada
also reports a mid-2003 survey of
refrigerant stocks that estimates
there are a total of 820,000 kilograms
of CFC R-502 still held by
various sources and end-users. The
survey also estimated 192,000 kg
of CFC R-12 is still in inventory
across Canada.
Furnace rebate
program extended
Natural Resources Canada has
extended the deadline allowing
furnaces to be installed under the
EnerGuide for Houses (EGH) retrofit/rebate
program where an audit
of the home hasn’t yet been done.
The pre-audit exemption has been
extended to March 31 from the
original expiry date of Feb. 12.
The program rewards homeowners
based on the efficiency of the
equipment they install. An
EnerGuide for Houses energy efficiency
audit must be done on the
home. Rebates are based on the
amount of improvement in efficiency.
Contact HRAI at 1-800-
267-2231 or go to www.hrai.ca.
Sales by wholesalers up
Sales by Canada’s plumbing, heating
and cooling wholesalers topped
out at a record $3.5 billion for
2003, reports the Canadian
Institute of Plumbing and Heating
(CIPH). This reflects a seven per
cent increase over 2002. All
regions were up with the Atlantic
provinces up 15 per cent, B.C. up
13 per cent, the West up 10 per
cent, Quebec up eight per cent
and Ontario up four per cent,
reports Ralph Suppa, CIPH
president and general manager.
Honeywell thermostat
patent challenged
Honeywell’s monopoly on the
round thermostat design is being
challenged. A U.S. District Court
(Continued on page 9)
www.plumbingandhvac.ca March/April 2004 – Plumbing & HVAC Product News 7