UCLA alumnus hopes to install waterless urinals in Southern California
By Jordan Manalastas
Nov. 12, 2009 5:18 a.m.
Consider the urinal.
With each flush of that porcelain vessel, a gallon of water goes coursing down the pipelines into the caustic graveyard of public sewage.
A whole gallon of water lost in the aftermath of a single bathroom break.
All this while the state continues to face the daunting pressures of a water crisis.
But to UCLA alumnus Parsa Sobhani, reconsidering our approach to restroom use may just be the solution Southern California needs to abate the state’s water shortage and save a buck or two ““ and 18 billion gallons of water a year.
Sobhani, who graduated last spring with a degree in economics, has spent the last couple of months working with Environment Now, a nonprofit foundation focused on protecting and restoring California’s environment.
His research on water desalination and conservation brought him into association with Coastal Restoration Advocates and their proposed program to install waterless urinals all across Southern California.
This plan goes toe-to-toe with a program proposed by Poseidon Resources, a water treatment company, to construct a $534 million desalination plant in San Diego.
“My work (has been) to show how conservation can be a viable alternative,” Sobhani said. “There would be the same amount of water for a fraction of the cost.”
The plan would install waterless urinals in public buildings, offices and schools throughout Southern California.
Rather than spending vast amounts of money on constructing and operating a desalination plant, Coastal Restoration Advocates’ plan invests in existing infrastructure without significantly changing the behavioral habits of restroom users everywhere.
Water is simply conserved and used elsewhere instead of being filtered and processed in a plant. This, according to Sobhani, would save the state 15 million gallons of water a day.
Eddie Scher, a principal of Coastal Restoration Advocates, said the waterless urinal program is more cost-efficient than a desalination plant in both the short and long run.
The waterless urinal program serves the public’s need immediately, he said.
A desalination plant requires continual operation and maintenance beyond the initial building cost of $500 million.
Waterless urinals, he said, would cost $187 million and warrant no considerable further expenses.
The Metropolitan Water District has yet to decide on either plan. While pushing for the installation of waterless urinals, Coastal Restoration Advocates has faced difficult opposition from other interests.
Scher expressed concern about the pressure from corporations with vested interests in large infrastructure projects.
“They’re great opportunities to privatize public money,” he said.
Despite this, Coastal Restoration Advocates continues to fight for what Sobhani calls a far more economically sound alternative.
This waterless urinal campaign is not the first time he has worked on an environmental project.
As an undergraduate at UCLA, Sobhani served as Finance Committee chair of the Undergraduate Students Association Council.
During his time there, USAC passed The Green Initiative Fund referendum, which raised student fees to support environmental sustainability on campus.
Now, as an alumnus, Sobhani works for the Coro Fellows Program in Public Affairs, a nine-month program that provides young people with an opportunity to work in various fields of the public sector.
Described by Chief Advancement Officer Jessica Lall as a highly selective program, the Coro Fellowship accepts 64 applicants a year, four of which are UCLA alumni.
“Our mission is to strengthen the democratic process by preparing people for leadership,” Lall said.
Although a non-partisan group, it is through the Coro Fellowship that Sobhani began working with Environment Now and Coastal Restoration Advocates.
“Coro gave me the forum to be very active in the public sphere,” he said.
Coro Fellows are involved in a wide array of activities; Sobhani’s work with the waterless urinal campaign is just one of many projects in which he will partake as a Fellow.
Sobhani has since moved on from his placement in Environment Now and currently works in the government sector.
Still, environmental considerations remain important to the UCLA graduate, who has been immersed in what appears to be an ever growing green approach to community involvement.
“I’d love to stay involved with any environmental project. … I’m still doing green initiatives even after graduation,” he said.
