If you're trying to do your part to save water, here's something you might not have known: 30% of the typical water consumption in a home comes just from pulling down the little handle on the side of the toilet tank. 

National standards now require commodes to use not more than 1.6 gallons per flush.  But the EPA has identified manufacturers and models that can do even better.   

Through their WaterSense program, the US Environmental Protection Agency identifies products that are 20% more efficient than a typical product in that category.  They've just released the first list of toilets that fall in this category, with a maximum water usage of 1.3 gallons per flush.

According to the EPA, using a specially labeled WaterSense toilet can save up to 4,000 gallons of water per year.    That's 77 gallons per week - probably enough to fill the shelves of your local grocery store.

Unlike previous low flow toilets, these are all high efficiency and high performance, with testing and certification performed by a third party agency. 

Here's some information on the on the approximate pricing and availability of the top choices in the Raleigh, NC area.

American Standard FloWise                       $359 retail price, Home Depot or Lowe's

Gerber Ultra Flush 21-312                            $360 list price - no distributors in NC - special order

Caroma Adelaide 270 Standard                 $709 list price - no distributors in NC - special order

Kohler Wellworth Pressure Lite               $431 retail price, Home Depot or Lowe's

Mansfield Quantum One                             Special Order Only - call for pricing

Niagara EcoLogic Flapperless Round       $280 - Special order online from AquaPro solutions, add shipping.

AquaPro Solutions is a North Carolina company, based near Asheville.  They offer shipping at cost, and also sell other water-saving products like showerheads and grey water reclamation systems.   Find out more about their "flapperless" model at http://www.aquaprosolutions.com/shopping/shopexd.asp?id=94.

When shopping, look for the WaterSense label or ask if you can special order an approved item from the manufacturer.   If the toilet comes in two parts as many do (a tank and a separate bowl), make sure both parts are approved. 

As standard toilets cost somewhere around $60, opting to save water can be a little costly.   The EPA anticipates that more and more manufacturers will be creating products that fit the requirements for HET (High Efficiency Toilet) certification, which means prices will likely be driven down in the near future.   Some cities, such as Austin TX and Santa Cruz CA, are offering homeowners rebates to replace their current bathroom fixture with a new, approved HET.  The City of Raleigh Water Conservation Task Force recommended that Raleigh offer rebates to residents who purchased low water toilets, but an official mandate doesn't appear to have passed yet.   As more citizens become aware of these options, enough requests to the city council could bring this up for a vote sooner. 

 

You may also be interested in these popular green building topics:

Green Home Building in the Triangle

What is a Green Home?              

What Is Geothermal?  Geothermal News and Information

Passive Solar Homes and Ideas

 

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2 Comments on Saving the World One Flush at a Time with a WaterSense Toilet

DEC
13
2007
104,117 Points 5 Featured Posts Outside Blog
In the early days of earth friendly practice, the 1970's, the advice was to put a brick in your toilet tank. What worked then still works, but now the designers have eliminated the need for a brick.
10:38am • #1
251,707 Points 2 Featured Posts Outside Blog

Rosario - Adding an item to the toilet tank can still be a good idea to reduce the water flow in a standard toilet.  It's recommended now to use a plastic bottle with a cover, filled with water, because a brick or other item could start to crumble and cause problems with grit.  

While this does reduce the overall water useage, there may be some issues will correct flushing.  I'm not a toilet salesperson :), but these HETs have been designed to increase the water pressure while reducing the water used - which means less clogging!  Some toilets are even designed with two separate handles.  The liquid waste handle uses less water (sometimes as low as just over 1 gallon), and the solid waste handle uses about 1.6 gallons. 

10:47am • #2

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