Prisons, Jails & Correctional Facilities

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Secure Plumbing for Institutions

Vacuum plumbing systems for prisons, jails, and correctional facilities offer benefits in safety and security, water usage, costs, and maintenance, including:

Benefits

Safety and Security Benefits:
  • Prevention of communication and the passing of contraband between cells.
  • The ability to turn off the plumbing in individual cells or groups of cells to prevent the flushing of contraband.
Water Usage and Cost Benefits:
  • ½ gallon of water used per flush.
  • Vacuum plumbing systems can reduce water usage by up to 68%
Maintenance Benefits:
  • Drastically reduces system blockages
  • When blockages do occur, they can be located at the fixture, making it easier to identify inmates attempting to vandalize the plumbing system.
Flexibility Benefits:
  • Flexibility in layout and design—vacuum plumbing systems do not require continuous slope and can be routed overhead around existing systems.

How Vacuum Plumbing Works Services-Health-Benefits Photo Gallery Our-Services

"AcornVac is a powerful money saver. For starters, we cut the Authority’s waste cost by $200,00 a year. We saved $400,000 upfront in domestic water connect fees because AcornVac’s smaller piping network simplifies everything, and we drastically reduced how the inmates control the jail by eliminating clogged pipes."

John Chaney
AECOM HSMM Project Manager, Western Virginia Regional Jail
Salem, Virginia


Customers LOVE AcornVac!

Learn how AcornVac systems have helped East County Detention Facility in Riverside, CA. Watch to see our customers share their OWN experiences, in their OWN words.

[Vacuum Plumbing] opened the possibilities for design because vacuum is vertically lifted as opposed to gravity sewage, so it really changed how that system could be installed -- you can put a toilet in virtually any location because it’s going into the ceiling.

— Stephan Selbert, Maintenance Superintendent,
East County Detention Facility, County of Riverside, CA

Working in detention facilities and mental health treatment facilities, it’s very common to have flooding…the residents there will intentionally plug up commodes and as a result an unfortunate occurrence will be massive flooding throughout. With a vacuum plumbing system, we did not experience any of that.

— Stephan Selbert, Maintenance Superintendent,
East County Detention Facility, County of Riverside, CA

Prisons, Jails and Correctional Facilities References

Western Virginia Regional Jail
Salem, Virginia

Poweshiek County Jail
Montezuma, Iowa

Treatment Center at the Salinas Valley State Prison
Soledad, California

Lotus Glenn Correctional Centre
Queensland, Australia


Resources

Article:; Corrections Forum, March 2007 - "Quick Payback for Green Expenditures Expected for Regional Jail" Article: Corrections Forum, March 2007 - "Quick Payback for Green Expenditures Expected for Regional Jail"View
Case Study: Salinas Valley State Prison Silver LEED Project (pdf) AcornVac boosts security and reduces water use at the Salinas Valley State Prison Silver LEED ProjectView
Case Study: Western Virginia Regional Jail (pdf)How Correctional Institutions Stem Crime with Modern Architectural PlumbingView
Design Guide Estimated Water Savings Calculation Using Vacuum Flush Toilets-Correctional Facility Estimated Water Savings Calculation Using Vacuum Flush Toilets-Correctional FacilityView
Illustration An Introduction to Vacuum Sewage and Plumbing System for Institutional ConstructionAn Introduction to Vacuum Sewage and Plumbing System for Institutional ConstructionView