A drain seal should not require water to maintain it.
Most buildings consume water for one reason only: to keep their drain seals wet. Across a building's lifecycle, that adds up to hundreds of thousands of gallons used for nothing else. We set out to remove that.
Green Drain was built around a single conviction: trap-primer water consumption is not an engineering necessity; it is a design choice that has persisted unchallenged for decades. A passive mechanical seal holds without a water-supply connection, without power, and without replacement parts. The work spans engineering, durability testing, and alignment with the frameworks that govern how buildings report and reduce their water use.
Why does trap-primer water matter where water is scarce?
In a U.S. Government Accountability Office survey published in 2014, 40 of 50 state water managers expected shortages in parts of their state within ten years under average conditions. Worldwide, 25 countries, home to about a quarter of the world's population, face extremely high water stress: each year they use 80% or more of their renewable supply.
A trap primer draws clean supply water for one job: keeping a drain seal wet. A passive seal draws none, so the saving counts most where supply is tightest.
Sources: World Resources Institute, Aqueduct (2023); U.S. GAO, GAO-14-430 (2014).
What does it cost to keep a drain seal wet for forty years?
A trap primer is a water-fed valve that periodically refills each drain seal. Per drain, the consumption runs from ten to thirty gallons per year. Across a single facility with a hundred drains, the annual draw is in the thousands of gallons. Across a building's lifecycle, the figure runs into the hundreds of thousands.
Research. Our public Water Savings Calculator models facility-level consumption against U.S. EPA WaterSense data and regional rate structures. Anyone can run a facility through it without contacting sales.
Status. Each seal that replaces a trap primer, with the primer shut off, removes that drain's water draw.
Open the Water Savings Calculator
How long does a passive seal last in real conditions?
A device that has to be replaced every year is not a sustainability story. It's a deferred consumption problem. Long service life under harsh conditions is the foundation of the conservation claim. We engineered the device for that.
Research. ASSE 1072 cycle-life testing confirms 2,500-plus operating cycles. CRT and Japanese laboratory testing confirms operation from -40°F to 100°C. Tear strength exceeds the certification minimum by 93x. Medical-grade silicone is selected for chemical resistance, not unit cost.
Status. Long service life on a single device, without the consumable-replacement cycle of conventional trap-priming hardware.
What goes downstream when a building stops over-watering its drains?
Water sent down a drain for the sole purpose of seal maintenance does not end at the building's meter. It ends at the treatment plant. Reduced flow translates to reduced treatment energy, reduced chemical use, and reduced load on municipal infrastructure.
Research. What rises from the sewer counts too. A sealed drain helps limit the sewer gas and drain air that escape into the building.
Status. The downstream story is increasingly relevant in jurisdictions with combined sewer overflows, water-stressed regions, and treatment plants operating near capacity.
How does Green Drain fit existing reporting frameworks?
Operators reporting to LEED, GRESB, or corporate ESG frameworks need quantifiable, documentable measures. Slogans do not qualify. Green Drain produces a numeric water-consumption reduction that survives audit.
Research. Every drain moved off a trap primer lowers metered water use, the figure GRESB and corporate ESG water reporting count. The Calculator output is a documentable input to corporate sustainability disclosures.
Status. The Calculator is open and unconditioned by sales: anyone can run their own facility through it.
Open the CalculatorRun the numbers for your facility.
The Calculator is public. So is the underlying methodology.