Lehighton Area School District’s top maintenance official got the go ahead Monday night to continue working on a change in urinal styles that could save the district a significant amount of money on future water bills.

Justin Smith, Lehighton’s head of facilities management, told directors during a workshop meeting that he’d like to test out waterless flush urinals at the middle school. Instead of using a dedicated amount of water each time they are flushed, the urinals have replaceable canisters that act as a filter.

“Right now, we are using 1.8 gallons of water per flush,” Smith said. “While I can’t tell you the exact amount, I know we’re spending a lot of money on water from the borough. That is what led me to look for an alternative.”

Smith said he’d like to try a pilot program at the middle school, the most heavily-used urinals in the district, where six canister-style waterless urinals are installed and water usage is monitored.

“I like the idea of talking about a pilot program to see how much money this saves as opposed to blanketing the whole district with new urinals right off the bat,” Board President Joy Beers said.

If the test works, Smith said, the district could go building by building and change them all.

“We are estimating we could save around 30,000 gallons of water at the middle school alone based on the 17 urinals we have,” he added. “I know this is a very odd topic to be talking about, but the cost of water is only going to go up in the borough so if we can eliminate water use, it will benefit us,”

The only time water would be used in the new urinals, Smith said, is every three months when the system is flushed out. Canisters, he added, would need to be replaced after 7,000 flushes. A dozen canisters cost around $350.

“The urinals range from $200-$600 depending on how high end you want to go,” Smith said. “We would save the current urinals and if this doesn’t work we are out maybe $2,000. But if it does, we could see a large savings.”

Water usage isn’t the only benefit of the proposed urinal style.

“We wouldn’t have the blockages that occur when someone flushes something down the toilet,” Smith said. “It would eliminate that damage.”

Superintendent Dr. Christina Fish said the district is looking into whether the purchase meets conservation/infrastructure criteria for the use of potential grant money to defray the cost.

“I like the fact that we’re talking about money saving ideas,” director Jeremy Glaush said, “instead of spend, spend, spend.”