A NUMBER of public and private urinals in the Taunton area have been converted so they no longer need to use water.

Somerset West and Taunton Council is working with WhiffAway, which champions waterless urinal technologies, to save water at public and private conveniences.

Gent's urinals are being converted to waterless systems at West Somerset Railway Station, Bishops Lydeard; Canon Street, Paul Street, Victoria and Vivary Parks, in Taunton; and North Street, Wellington Park and the Deane depot, Westpark, in Wellington.

The work involves installing special plumbing outlets housing chemically impregnated filters onto the existing urinals.

The filters rapidly neutralise any odours without the need for flushing.

The council has previously outlined its intention to reduce water consumption and mitigate the carbon costs of water management through the publication of a Carbon Neutrality and Climate Resilience Action Plan and a countywide produced Somerset Climate Emergency Strategy.

Cllr Dixie Darch, SWT executive member for climate change, said: “On average, a single urinal uses 120 cubic meters of water a year, with much water being lost through automatic flushing when there is little to no footfall, such as overnight.

"By switching to a waterless system, this project will help us to save significant amounts of water."

Cllr Andrew Sully, portfolio holder for environmental services, said: "Retrofitting our existing facilities makes use of the already embodied carbon.

"By using WhiffAway’s innovative waterless urinal adaptors, we can avoid having to replace the whole unit, which cuts down on our carbon footprint."

All the retrofitting work will be completed tomorrow (Thursday, July 22).