By: Deborah Johnson Wood
SelectAFlush is not a glamorous contraption. But it could save homeowners and cities millions of gallons of water and drastically reduce the volume of contaminated water requiring treatment, protecting the environment and reducing costs. And it’s the first product brought to market through InnovationWorks, a 10-month-old program developed by Right Place, Inc. through the Workforce Innovation in Regional Economic Development (WIRED) initiative.
SelectAFlush is a retrofit kit that brings ordinary toilets into the 21st Century by converting them to dual-flush toilets.
“The kit replaces the flapper valve,” says David Bauer, co-designer with Bruce Okkema of Eagle Design and Technology, and president of SelectAFlush, a virtual business operating from Mattawan.
“You pull out the flapper and put in the retrofit kit and it allows you to have a two-stage flush; a rinse cycle and a full flush. On a 1.6-gallon toilet the rinse cycle uses about 0.8 gallons; the full flush uses the full capacity of the toilet design.”
A new dual-flush toilet runs about $300 or more, not including the cost of plumbing and installation. The SelectAFlush costs $24.95, and comes in a selection of finishes that match those of the major bathroom fixture manufacturers. And every component is designed and manufactured in West Michigan.
After Bauer invented the product he contacted his uncle, John Bauer, an injection molding industry veteran, to help him develop and market it.
“I contacted Bill Small at InnovationWorks and he provided research, hooked us up with the various brilliant people in plastic molding, and reviewed the business plan,” John Bauer says. “There were about 15 different periods during development when I counted on Bill to get us the answers.
“Our hope is that the business model will act as a catalyst for inventors to come to the Right Place and InnovationWORKS to get their product to market.”
Source: David Bauer, John Bauer, SelectAFlush; Tim Mroz, Right Place, Inc.; Andy Guy, Wondergem Consulting
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Deborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at [email protected].
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