A testament to the current Las Vegas enthusiasm for lavish hotel and entertainment complexes, the 30-story, pyramid-shaped Luxor also stands as a monument to practical choices in plumbing design. The 2,526-room hotel, one of the 20 largest in the world, includes seven restaurants, the world’s largest swimming pool complex, a 100,000 square foot casino and a 110-seat showroom. The sheer room volume of the Luxor necessitated some practical thinking when it came to plumbing and plumbing maintenance. That’s why the Luxor chose the Flushmate® system for its thousands of water closets.
John Place, of P & P Plumbing in Las Vegas, worked with the Luxor because of his previous experience with installations at other hotels that line the iconic Vegas Strip.
“At one hotel, we installed 300 gravity units, and we were experiencing more than 100 stoppages a day. After just a few weeks, we replaced the water closets there with pressure units and eliminated the problem,” said Place.“That’s why we specified Flushmate for the Luxor.”
Unlike a gravity system, which is more prone to flooding and stoppages, the Flushmate system features a larger trapway with fewer bends for fewer clogs and a deeper trap seal for greater safety. In addition, the larger water seal surface results in less staining, easing daily housekeeping chores.
Jim Brown, assistant chief engineer at the Luxor, notes that the Flushmate system has been extremely reliable, and, in fact, requires less maintenance. “My previous experience was at an operation that had three-gallon gravity units, and we would get as many as 10 calls a shift,” he said. “Since the Luxor opened in October, our plumbing calls have been minimal. We’re averaging only two to three water closet maintenance calls a shift.” Brown added that initially, the water closets were more costly to purchase, but that the payback, in terms of labor and water savings, would be faster. “We save on repairs, and our staff can concentrate on other tasks.”
Trying to flush a toilet with less than half the water used in a traditional toilet just doesn’t cut it - unless it’s Flushmate.
Mike McInelly, Sales Representative
“That’s important in the hotel business,” points out Mike “Mac” McInelly, the sales representative from Southwestern Mechanical Sales Co. that worked closely with Brown and Place in bringing Flushmate to the Luxor. “People are used to a certain level of performance in a toilet. Trying to flush a toilet with less than half the water used in a traditional toilet just doesn’t cut it - unless it’s Flushmate. We believe people will simply be unwilling to compromise their performance expectations. Besides, when you think about the savings in maintenance and housekeeping that go along with units with Flushmate inside, well, there’s just no comparison.