UNAR
Unified North American Requirements for Toilet Fixtures
For a number of years, individual water agencies and municipalities in both the U.S. and Canada have been developing their own toilet fixture specifications and "approved lists" that were sometimes quite arbitrary and were frequently different from one another. It became apparent to both the water conservation professionals and the plumbing industry that a uniformity would benefit many stakeholders - water conservation and efficiency programs, the plumbing industry and, of course, the consumer looking for the rebate. Thus, the idea was born that a set of common or uniform requirements would help to end much of the confusion.
Representatives of the conservation interests from some of the largest water providers in North America met in January 2004 to initiate an effort to develop a uniform set of minimum requirements for toilets subsidized through their water conservation programs. UNAR serves the following goals:
1) Assists the plumbing industry in the development of superior products that:
(a) meet customer expectations for flushing performance, and
(b) sustain water savings over the life of the fixtures by restricting maximum flush volumes and requiring chemical-resistant trim components.
2) Measures performance and water savings against a scientifically based set of criteria.
3) Serve as an aid to development of the WaterSense Program for toilet fixtures.
In summary, UNAR is a voluntary qualification system being adopted by those water authorities that believe it is critical to:
1) achieve sustainable water savings from toilet fixture replacements, and
2) ensure a high level of customer satisfaction with flushing performance.
What comprises UNAR?
UNAR incorporates elements of the Maximum Performance (MaP) toilet fixture testing protocol as described within the MaP Final Report together with the Los Angeles SPS requirements for chemical resistant flappers and a maximum flush volume under maximum adjustment conditions. Both the MaP and the SPS have been instrumental in driving the development of high-performance toilet fixtures with sustainable water savings. Combined into UNAR, they improve the ability of the plumbing industry and the water utilities to achieve continuing water savings through satisfied customers.
UNAR encompasses two tiers of performance:
(a) conventional toilet fixtures flushing at 1.3 to 1.6 gallons (4.92 L to 6.1 L) and
(b) HETs flushing at 1.28 gallons (4.84 L) or less.
The UNAR specification for HETs was used as a foundation for the new WaterSense specification for HETs. In most aspects, the UNAR-HET specification is identical to the WaterSense specification.
UNAR Documents