Installation Test Produces Results During Atlanta Airport Restroom Retrofit





By Dave Lubach, Associate Editor  
OTHER PARTS OF THIS ARTICLEPt. 1: Restroom Retrofit Saves Atlanta Airport Millions in Water UsePt. 2: Record Georgia Drought Triggers Atlanta Airport Restroom RetrofitPt. 3: This PagePt. 4: Restroom Retrofit Opens Other Energy Conservation Doors at Atlanta AirportPt. 5: Atlanta Airport's Restroom Retrofit Saves Millions of Gallons of Water - An Online Exclusive


The contractor's initial plan was to only replace flush valves on existing urinals and toilets, but the contractor scapped those plans after complaints from customers during test installations.

Not surprisingly, Davis says that maintenance and engineering managers who take on a plumbing project should use components from a single manufacturer to ensure smoother operations. And, he advises, be sure to consider different options before making a decision on which manufacturer to go with.

"We received a number of complaints from our customers about water overspray from the urinals, and we decided that it was necessary to replace the flush valves and urinals and toilets using the same manufacturer for each," Davis says.

"We suggest that prototypes are installed before selecting the preferred manufacturer. By installing prototypes from three different manufacturers, we were able to obtain feedback from the public and our maintenance department on the performance of the fixtures. Thus, we made our final equipment selection based on the performance, maintenance, availability of parts, and budget."

No setbacks occurred in terms of time and cost to the project, because contractors identified the issue early in the planning phase, before procurement and construction began. Since the project was completed, the contractor in charge of maintenance on the toilets, urinals and sink valves has reported no significant issues, Davis says.




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  posted on 10/15/2013   Article Use Policy




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