Greentech Lead India: “Waterless urinals” concept has
been around for decades. Despite the growing awareness of this technology,
companies involved in this business have failed to tap large markets like India
where public urinals and toilets have been poorly rated for their hygiene and
maintenance.
Ace Aqua Saver Pvt. Ltd, a developer of waterless uridan
urinals, is aggressively pursuing waterless urinals opportunities in India. The
company currently serves more than 40 countries, and it is planning to set up a
manufacturing facility in India.
uridan urinals are more hygienic than conventional
flushing systems. The system uses the patented uridan odor trap. This odor trap
works with the aid of urilock, a special blocking fluid. urilock consists of
plant-based substances and is biodegradable.
Due to the fact that urilock is lighter than urine, the
heavier urine automatically flows directly down the drain. The lighter urilock
stays on the surface and works like a liquid lid that blocks out all drain and
sewage odors.
Greentech Lead recently had an interaction with Saumil
Christian, managing director of Ace Aqua Saver, on different aspects of
waterless urinals technology and its prospects in different markets, especially
India. Our exchange follows:
URIDAN waterless urinals have been sold and installed for
almost 2 decades across 40 countries, but why majority of our urinals still
depend on water? What is preventing the mass adoption of your technology?
We were all born in the era of water-flushed urinals
existing. It was understood that water is the solution of eradication of foul odor
and for centuries different civilizations have followed the same technology and
belief.
“Contrary to our belief, URINE per say does not have odor,
it takes 7 hours to oxidize and breed bacteria to give out foul smell of
Ammonia. But when mixed with water it takes only 10 to 12 minutes to breed
bacteria and give out fumes of ammonia and foul smell”.
In India the water cost is almost negligible and
therefore it works as and more economically viable solution till date. However,
with Uridan Waterless System, we are in the process of creating awareness that
by saving water which is being flushed in the urinals, you can have a
completely odor free, bacteria free and water free toilets. In the process you
save water and obtain return on Investment in the form of savings for decades
to come whilst providing a very hygienic toilet.
A “Waterless urinals” concept may be taboo in many
cultures. How do you convince these customers?
Uridan Waterless Solutions have always been a complete
solution provider and that has been the reason of its enormous success even in
the Middle East. Uridan is extremely sensitive towards the socio-political
demograph of each country. We have designed special sit-down and uni-sex models
keeping in mind the religious beliefs and compulsions for the Middle-East market,
we have introduced for children tower models which are built according to their
age group of 0-2nd standard, 3rd to 6th standard and 7th and
above standards for schools. When Water is scarce and every drop
matters, Uridan provides them with a complete solution by taking care of odor,
hygiene, aesthetics, utility and to top it all an extremely low maintenance as
compared to water flushing urinals.
What are your marketing strategies to sell your products
across the world? Do you have manufacturing facilities in these countries?
Presently Uridan has manufacturing facilities in Denmark,
Poland, Germany & Austria which cater to 40 countries across the
globe. However, in next 6 months the production of Uridan Waterless System will
be done in India. This facility will not only cater to Indian market but will
also be working towards catering to new countries across the globe helping the
world save millions of liters of precious drinking water. Our vision is to
make URIDAN experience felt in more than 100 countries in next 5 years to come.
What is the cost of the product, and cost of
implementation and maintenance? What is the estimated savings to an individual
user – savings on power, water and maintenance costs?
Uridan Range starts from Rs. 22000/- to Rs. 60,000/-.
However, with manufacturing facility now in India we intend to launch our
products from Rs. 12000 to Rs. 30,000/- for the full range of products. The
maintenance cost will further come down from Rs. 0.10/- per use to Rs. 0.05/-
per use. Thus making it the most economical waterless system available in its segment
and class of waterless urinals.
Do you think URIDAN waterless urinals will be suitable
for the public toilet facilities in India? What are the challenges in
implementing such a system in India?
Our Urinals functions from -18 degrees temperature to 52
degrees hot climate. When various Armed forces across the globe have Uridan
Waterless System functioning successfully, we don’t see any reason for it not
being suitable for Indian public toilets. Having said that, educating the
maintenance –and uridan being a non-water system– to its users through the
public urinal attendant becomes important. Our system does not have
problem with spit or ciggrattes or light vandalism. But theft, poor maintenance
and lack of accountability of the maintenance staff will be an issue which will
need to be closely monitored for the first few months of its installation.
What is the life of a single URIDAN installation? How
often do we have to change the filter?
Uridan Pan is made up of high grade FRP
& CERAMIC. It is coated with special
Anti-Bacterial Gel and has a life span of minimum 15 years. Plus
our system does not have a single moving mechanical part which can break or get
damaged. Therefore the product can keep on functioning year after year with no
problem at all. The URILOCK need a change after minimum 15000 uses, which in a
high usage area like shopping mall will be approximately every 2 months
and in a corporate office every 6-8 months. In maintenance all you need is to
clean the Urinal once a day with URI-CLEAN liquid which will work on a single
urinal for minimum 60-62 days.
Where do you find the best use of URIDAN, for e.g.,
airlines, trains, schools, etc.?
Uridan waterless system is ideal for Stadiums, Airports,
Restaurants, Hotels, Pubs, Stations, Bus stands, Shopping Mall, Schools,
colleges, factories, corporate offices, Hospitals and at any and every
place where there are more than 10 people using a bathroom every day.
Have you partnered with any public/private agencies for
URIDAN installation? Name some of your customers in India.
We have some of the top names as our dealers across India
in North, South & Western India. We are also in process or making dealers
in East and Central India. Our dealers are main force to help us penetrate the
vast and far-fledged places in a mammoth country like India. Wherever required
and requested by our dealers, we have joined hands with Facility Management
companies to ensure immediate and most professional services to our esteemed
list of customers.
Top names like L&T Power Ltd, Asian Paints, Torrent
Group, Diamond Power Infrastructure Ltd, Sterling Health Mall, Select City Walk
Mall-Delhi, Tiki-Tar Industries, Vaasan Eye Care Hospitals,
Hyatt Hotels, Radisson Blu Group of Hotels, Carlson Hotel, Saguna Pips High
School etc. are amongst the few elite clientele which is growing by the
day.
Who are your major competitions in the world?
Our only major competition in the world is and will be
the Water-flushed urinals. Now that Uridan is in India, our only motive is to
make India completely free of water-flushed urinals. Water-flushed urinals
should be an item in a museum for the gen-next to see it as technology of the
past. This has been the vision of Mr. Tushar Uttamchandani – director Technical
and we have now made it our challenge as a company to make it happen.
We presently stand in 40 countries and are sprinting
towards 100 more countries to be covered in next 5 years.
Rajani Baburajan