Water-saving measures include restricted-flow plumbing devices, a front-loading washing machine and rain barrels to capture water for gardening and car-washing.
The event featured some but not all of the features of marathon debates of bygone days -- cots outside the chamber for weary orators, for example, but no senators claiming they were equipped with personal plumbing devices to allow them to hold the floor at length without pause.
Mr. Wolf said most of the Nokia patents appeared to cover highly technical internal components, which he described as the "plumbing" of mobile devices.
The TelePrompTer Corporation, a consultant to five political conventions, later invented a podium with concealed prompting devices, plumbing for drinking water and a platform to lift or lower a speaker.
"WE TRY to tell young people that manufacturing isn't messy," says Mark Wallis, as he walks past the purring machinery at Superior, which makes the rubber O-rings used in plumbing and mechanical devices.
The cost of the water treatment device, including plumbing expenses, was approximately $988 per household.
In just an hourlong ride last Sunday, this street theater yielded elaborate pitches to buy plastic rain ponchos, camouflage panamas with mosquito nets for fishermen and hunters, knife sharpeners and a device to unblock plumbing ("to European standards").
All other study investigators, the plumbing contractor who installed the devices, and the study subjects were blinded as to the household device assignment throughout the trial, including the analysis phase, resulting in a triple-blinded trial.
Randy and Erik Gitli, who have run the 32-year-old business since their father, Gerald, retired in 2002, estimate that they spend an hour a day educating customers and prospects on everything from new heating systems and plumbing fixtures to energy-saving devices and rebates from government agencies.
