How to get rid of urine odours in urinals?

👀 Where to look

Urine odours from urinals can come from two sources:

The urine that misses the urinal & ends up on the floor, wall, grout, tiles and the surrounds of the porcelain or stainless steel bowl.
The urine in the urinal bowl and uric acid crystal build up in the S-bend of the pipe.

😩 Why is it so hard to remove?

When urine dries it crystallises. The uric acid crystals are the source of the odour, as they get embedded into both hard and soft surfaces.

Conventional cleaners can remove the urea and urochrome components of urine because they are water soluble, but will leave behind the non-soluble uric acid crystals. These can only be removed using a bio-enzymatic product such as urineFREE.

If the crystals are not entirely removed, any moisture or heat will reactivate these crystals and the odour will return.

🧽 How to remove

🚽 Urine odours outside the toilet bowl

Urine odours outside the bowl are easily eliminated by using urineFREE. Saturate the affected area with product. Allow to air dry and once dry, rinse with water to wash away the residue from the biological activity.
We suggest two to three treatments in succession to eliminate the accumulated urine build-up and then regular maintenance as required.

🪠 Urine odours in the toilet bowl & pipes

Urine odours coming from the toilet bowl and S-bend of the pipe, will take a little more effort. Both types of urinals (water-flushing and waterless) are susceptible to uric acid crystal build-up but the removal process is different.

💦 Water-flushing urinals

With the water-flushing urinal, the uric acid crystals get lodged in the S-bend and can result in the bowl overflowing. If you ran a camera through the pipe you would see a solidified ball of uric acid crystals. When the urinals are not in use, the urine odour can escape and will activate with urination.

Instructions:

To solve this problem, when the urinals are not in service, turn off the water and saturate the uric acid crystals in the S-bend with urineFREE.
To “eat” these large number of crystals will take some time and several treatments but eventually they will be eliminated.
If the urinals are flooding and you can’t wait for the treatment to work, call in the plumber.
After the plumber clears the line, commence using urineFREE regularly to avoid a recurrence.

🚫 Waterless urinals

Most of the waterless urinals use a sealant that is lighter than water. Urine passes through the sealant, which prevents odours from escaping.

Some waterless urinals have a cartridge (a trap) that urine flows through and into the sewer line. If the sealant is not topped up periodically and the cartridge is not cleaned regularly of uric acid crystal build-up, the urine odours will return.