Plumbing FINALISTS

Sierra Waterless Urinal by Waterless
No-flush waterless urinals are being given serious consideration by specifiers these days, especially with the continuing growth and popularity of the sustainable design movement. What distinguishes this new model is a full ceramic-glazed interior 2-in. drain line. Neither O-rings nor housings are needed to accept trap cartridges. This newest model takes a standard vertical trap, and the 2-in. waste outlet installs to a 2-in. drain line via standard flanged connection. The units require neither mechanical parts nor water for flushing, with a possible savings of 45,000 gals. of water per year.
The manufacturer suggests that not only does the absence of water make them more hygienic than conventional units, but also, waterless urinals are cheaper to operate. They claim that the waterless units offer a payback period of only three years. www.waterless.com  

www.aosmithwaterheaters.com  

CRV Flex Pump Connectors by Metraflex
Pump connectors incorporate a technology developed under a grant from NASA to study and improve turbulence caused by 90-degree elbows in rocket engine test tunnels. Pumps require conditioned non-turbulent flow to operate according to their performance curves. Turbulent flow also results in cavitation and a shorter pump life. The technology from the NASA study was applied by the manufacturer to the HVAC market by incorporating it into its pump connectors. The unit consists of a specially designed set of stationary vanes placed upstream from an elbow as an integral part of the pump connector. The vane imparts a gyroscopic motion to fluid moving through the system, causing it to pass through the elbow uniformly and exit with a flat velocity profile.
The remedies to fluid turbulence used to be a suction diffuser or a long section of straight pipe. The manufacturer of this new product claims that installing vanes in the pump connector reduces installation costs and maintenance when compared to suction diffusers. www.metraflex.com