| Proposed Design | The proposed design of the trough urinals would meet the intent of OPSC 402.3 for providing no more than 1 gallon per flush and the sanitary conditions by being used on a limited basis with cleaning occurring after each event.
- The automatic metered valve control with infrared motion sensor will provide .5 gallons per minute, less than the 1 gallon per flush requirement per OPSC 402.3.
- Single use urinals are provided in each restroom with a trough urinal.
- Trough urinals will have an approved backflow prevention device as required by OPSC 409.0.
- An automatic flushometer valve will be provided as required by OPSC 410.3 providing .5 gallons per minute when activated by an infrared motion sensor.
- Water quantity is sufficient across the back surface of the wall to thoroughly wash the surface at all discharges.
- Cleaning crews will thoroughly wash all surfaces during the first half of the game, after half-time, and then post game of each event in which the trough urinal was used.
- Inspection records of the cleanings will be kept for inspection.
- Trough urinals are not necessary to meet the minimum as required fixtures for the stadium occupant calculations per OSSC Table 29-A.
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| Reason for alternative | The proposed design is to install trough urinals at Providence Park to help alleviate the long lines and resulting unsanitary conditions caused by people having to wait so long to use the facilities. The long lines and need for the trough urinals primarily occurs at half-time and at the end of games in the old parts of the stadium. Work has been done to alleviate these issues in the past, but structural limitations make it an unreasonable financial burden to provide additional single use urinals to address the peak use loads. The number of fixtures, including single-use urinals, exceeds the requirements per OSSC Table 29-A. The trough urinals are in addition to the required number of fixtures, therefore they are only used during limited times.
Trough urinals are prohibited by the Oregon Plumbing Specialty Code. The intent of prohibiting the trough urinals is sanitation concerns based on the amount of water needed to thoroughly wash all surfaces and also privacy concerns. The trough urinals in the proposed design are not utilized to meet the required number of fixtures per OSSC Table 29-A. The number of required fixtures for the 20,438 fixed seats in the stadium per Table 29-A is 54 water closets for the 10, 219 men. This is based on 4 fixtures required for the first 300 seats and 1 fixture per every 200 seats over 300. The proposed design will have 42 water closets with 40 urinals. Only 12 urinals will be required to meet the code requirements for number of plumbing fixtures. The trough urinals will not count for any of the required fixtures. Any concerns of privacy a potential user has can be met by the abundant number of water closets in each restroom.
The proposed trough urinals will use a flushing valve that meets the water conservation requirements of the OPSC. Trough urinal flushing systems typically exceed the 1 gallon per flush requirement per fixture through use of a trickle valve. The proposed metered valve exceeds the requirement of 1 gallon per flush by providing .5 gallon per minute. This will not be a continuous flow, but a flow only activated by a user through a motion sensor. The infrared motion sensor will activate the metered valve only after a use. This provides an equivalent water use of no more than .5 gallons per flush, less than required by OPSC 402.3.
Sanitary concerns of the trough urinal will be alleviated by their limited use in a privately operated facility where they will be thoroughly cleaned by professional cleaning crews after each event in which they are used and maintained after half-time and at the end of each event. Inspection records will be kept noting the day and time of each cleaning. These records will be available for inspection by city inspectors at any time. The flush water will be dispersed through an integral flush pipe along the entire length of the urinal to provide a thorough washing of the trough after each use. The trough urinals will not use invisible seals or have an unventilated space and will be made of stainless steel. Each unit will be drained per OPSC with a visible P-trap below the trough and then proceeding into the code compliant sanitary drain system.
Trough urinals are an efficient way to meet the high, temporary demand for facilities during breaks of sporting events. The ability for them to meet the peak demand prevents other fixtures or facilities from being used during peak times, causing unsanitary conditions. The water usage during these peak times will be no more than .5 gallons per minute, less than the 1 gallon per flush used during these peak times at the single-user urinals. Sanitation of the urinals will be provided by professional cleaning crews after each event to ensure the urinals are not a health hazard.
The proposed design meets the water conservation, sanitation and privacy requirements for urinals and, therefore, we request approval of this request.
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