Waterless Urinals

Southern California has seen its fair share of drought and times of limited water supply. But a new waterless urinal could be part of the solution. Around the world, millions of gallons of water are being conserved yearly thanks to a urinal that's taking the flush out of going number one.

Falcon Waterfree Technologies CEO James Krug says in the international market, there are approximately 55 million urinals that use roughly 40,000 gallons of water around the world.

"There's an opportunity to save billions and billions of gallons of water," said Krug.

In a traditional urinal, water flushes urine down the drain. But since urine is already a liquid, water shouldn't be necessary; gravity should do the work.

The urinal's design is based on a plastic cartridge with a biodegradable liquid sealant that traps odors and gasses from urine as it passes. One of the $40 cartridges will last for about 7,000 uses and will need to be replaced two to three times yearly on average.

Ten years ago, the waterless urinals were practically unheard of, with only two U.S. states permitting the devices in their building codes. Now the government is pushing for them to become the norm.

Today, there are 200,000 of these urinals installed worldwide -- 100,000 in the U.S. alone.