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Green Building Parks and Recreation Restroom Structures Project Index

Architect: Gerding Collaborative, Atlanta, GA   |   Engineer: Long Engineering, Atlanta, GA

Parks and Recreation Toilet Systems, Parks and Rec Toilet Systems, Sweetwater Creek State Park, Clivus Multrum Inc.

Sweetwater Creek State Park

Visitors’ Center

Lithia Springs , GA

Peaceful Wilderness

Sweetwater Creek State Park is a conservation park offering more than 2,500 acres dedicated to preservation and protection of natural and cultural resources, located just minutes from Atlanta, GA. The park is home to nine miles of hiking trails, a 215-acre lake, the historic ruins of an antebellum textile mill and now a visitors’ center with administrative offices, museum, water quality lab and classroom.

Overcoming Obstacles

The Georgia Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and Georgia State Parks are not new to green building design. The GA DNR has more green buildings than any other state, which means that they are familiar with the integrated design process required to minimize the building’s impact on the land. One challenge the group faced was a two-inch water main that led to the building. After investigating costs associated with replacing the water main, the architect, Dan Gerding contacted Clivus Multrum, which resulted in a composting toilet system that worked with the existing water main. The National ACEC Engineering Excellence Award was given to Long Engineering, Inc. for their work on the visitors’ center.

Conserve & Protect

A 77% reduction of potable water use was achieved by use of a composting toilet system and rainwater harvesting. Four of Clivus Multrum’s largest composters combined with six waterless toilets, a waterless urinal and one Foam-flush toilet serve all the toilet needs for the building. The system allowed the visitor center to forgo a septic system and save about 82,000 gallons of potable water each year. The building is tucked into the hillside to insulate and reduce visual and physical impact. Windows are oriented to allow passive solar heating in winter while minimizing solar heat in the warmer months. Solar panels, a green roof and advanced day-lighting technologies contributed to the first LEED platinum certification in the Southeast.

• Four M35 composting systems accommodate 65,000 uses each per year
• One Foam-flush toilet in the "family" restroom uses just six oz. of water per use
• Six waterless toilets and one waterless urinal completely eliminate water use

Georgia Engineer Article    Facility Profile

Copyright © 2010, Clivus Multrum, Inc.

Since 1973 Clivus Multrum has been the industry leader in composting toilets and greywater technologies. Composting toilets eliminate water from the waste stream and prevent the nutrients in human waste from becoming a source of pollution. Our waterless toilets and waterless urinals use no water at all. Our Foam-flush toilet is an ultra low flow toilet fixture that uses just six ounces of water per use. That’s a 97% water savings when compared with conventional 1.6 gallon per flush toilets. The M54 Trailhead is an ADA compliant pre fab or kit built stand alone restroom structure that comes in either a single stall or double stall with Clivus composting technology. The Trailhead is the natural solution for golf course and remote bathrooms. Clivus Multrum greywater systems (or graywater) recycle water from sinks, showers, dishwashers, and washing machines to irrigate plants. Many people consider composting toilets when looking for an alternative to conventional onsite waste treatment technologies. Satisfied Clivus customers include the National Park Service, the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers, the City of New York, Green Builders, Parcs Canada, and state and local parks throughout North America and beyond.