GUELPH, ONTARIO — Sanitary for All changed its name in January to SFA Saniflo, and the producer of macerating toilets will operate in North America under the trade name Saniflo.
In addition, the company has moved to larger office and warehouse facilities in Guelph, which is located west of Toronto. Saniflo will continue to operate its U.S. distribution center in Niagara Falls, N.Y., and plans to open a U.S. sales office and distribution center during 2004 in the Northeast.
“Saniflo has ambitious expansion plans for 2004 and beyond, including a 50% growth in unit shipments within the United States,” President Johan Bouwer said. “The larger premises in Guelph will enable us to better serve our distributors and dealers throughout North America.”
Saniflo manufactures a line of macerating toilet systems for residential and commercial applications where it is difficult or cost-prohibitive to install a conventional water closet. The key feature of all nine Saniflo models is a self-contained macerator/pump that uses a rotating cutting blade to liquefy human waste and toilet paper. Mixed with flush water, this fine slurry is removed from the system under pressure through a copper or plastic discharge line as small as 3/4 in. to a soil stack or a septic tank.
The primary advantage of a macerating system is that it can be installed on top of any finished floor — in the home, garage, basement, offices, restaurants — without the need for excavation of that floor to install a drain line, Bouwer said.
The fixtures work up to 12 ft. below and 150 ft. away from a sewer line.
Saniflo’s European parent company is Group SFA. The company began selling these plumbing fixtures in France in 1958, taking the Saniflo line international in 1965.
Bouwer established Sanitary For All in Ontario in December 1987 and introduced the line to the U.S. market in the late 1990s. He had started his own contracting business in Edmonton before becoming an importer of European plumbing products, including those made by SFA. Bouwer has worked to secure code approvals and develop a standard for macerating toilet systems in North America.