“Delivering what our client wants in a way that fits
their budget is the trick,” says Clark. “And it goes
beyond just using low-flow fixtures - that’s just a nobrainer.
We look at what else can we do, such as can
we do any harvesting, can we do irrigation onsite using
gray water or some other means, can we use siphonic
roof drains? … There’s a lot of creativity to it beyond
just low-flow fixtures.”
Supply and demand
Testing the bathroom systems in a large venue is,
predictably, an equally large-scale task. Experts will
conduct what is referred to as a ‘super flush’ test,
designed to simulate the kind of mass use typical of
an event day. Such tests may involve volunteers (Levi’s
Stadium, for instance, enlisted boy scouts and girls
scouts to take part in a pre-opening day super flush),
and offer a chance to assess the venue’s infrastructure
under extreme, yet controlled, circumstances.
“We’ll monitor the booster pumps in the facility,
monitoring the flow rate and the pressure,” says Clark.
“We also have manhole covers lifted in various spots,
and guys watching the lowest level floor drains to make
sure there’s no issues.
“We establish a timeline between operation for each
fixture – urinals, water closets, lavatories,” Clark
continues. SSR will factor in event type too, with sports
such as soccer and football more likely to require
extreme usage during halftime, while baseball,
basketball and others will have subtly different
patterns. “We’ll have two or three people per restroom
operating the facilities in accordance with the
timelines. We do our tests for 20 minutes – including
a ramp up and a ramp down period of around twoand
a-half minutes each. What we don’t want to do is
have everyone slam all the fixtures on at once, causing
a shock to the piping and the systems called water
hammer.” SSR’s timelines are designed to more
accurately reflect actual event usage. “This helps us
establish more realistic guidelines,” clark adds.
Clark reveals some of the issues they’ve experienced
in the past. “We’ve also had to open strainers and pull
T-shirts out, we’ve had concrete and mortar that made
its way into drain lines, causing major backups in the
system. We’ve even seen valves that were simply closed
as contractors didn’t realize that the valves at the street
were not fully open. That’s why it’s such a key test to
flush out the facility’s issues in advance of opening day.”
Case in point
Stadium restroom provision is more than just installing
a set number of appliances - and both Lewis and Clark
point to examples of venues they’ve worked on where
the specification of sophisticated systems has been
expertly implemented.
“We’re really proud of SoFi Stadium,” says Lewis.
“It’s a really unique design, with some of it inside, some
of it outside. They had some innovative ways to
tackle the restroom challenge. You can navigate in and
out of those areas, the Rams and Chargers have done
a nice job integrating with the architecture.”
“We did Chase Center, which was unique in its
locations and very environmentally conscious code
requirements from a plumbing perspective,” adds
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