My New Toilet

My toilet sprang a leak a few nights ago, creating the perfect opportunity to replace it with a new, water-saving model.  

My first choice was to get a toilet like the ones I recently saw in Australia. Those give two flush options so you don't need to use a full tank of water for a job that only requires a half-flush. The toilet would cost about $350 more than other water-saving models, but I figured it would be worth it over time. 

 Unfortunately, it would have taken almost a week to get the toilet and then have it installed - and in the meantime, we would have had no working toilet on the main floor of our house.

 

We went with the next-best option: a toilet certified as a substantial water-saver by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

 

This Toto Water Sense-certified commode uses only 1.28 gallons of water per flush (compared to the 4 gpf of the toilet we replaced, and 1.6 gpf of other water-savers on the market). 

 

EPA estimates that my family will save a stunning 4,000 gallons of water every year just be replacing the old toilet with this new one.

 

Interested? Learn more at WaterSense.

Comments

[Andrea Paulinelli]

Toilets account for approx. 30% of water used indoors. By installing a Dual Flush toilet you can save approx. 40% of water being flushed down the toilet, compared to a standard, modern 1.6 gpf (gallons per flush) model. If your toilet has been installed prior to 1994, you are using 3.5 gallons or more each single flush. The water savings you can achieve by upgrading to a Dual Flush toilet are substantial. By reducing your water usage, you are also reducing the cost of your water bill!!
If you are serious about saving water, want a toilet that really works and is affordable, I highly recommend installing a Caroma Dual Flush toilet. They offer a patented dual flush technology consisting of a 0.8 Gal flush for liquid waste and a 1.6 Gal flush for solids. On an average of 5 uses a day (4 liquid/ 1 solid) a Caroma Dual Flush toilet uses an average of 0.96 gallons per flush. The new Sydney Smart uses only 1.28 and 0.8 gpf, that is an average of 0.89 gallons per flush. This is the lowest water consumption of any toilet available in the US. Caroma, an Australian company set the standard by giving the world its first successful two button dual flush system in the 1980’s and has since perfected the technology. With a full 3.5″ trap way, these toilets virtually never clog. All 47 floor mounted models are on the list of WaterSense labeled HET’s (High Efficiency toilets) http://www.epa.gov/watersense/pp/find_het.htm and qualify for the various toilet rebate programs available in the US. Please visit my blog http://pottygirl.wordpress.com/2008/08/01/what-you-should-know-about-toilets/
to learn more or visit http://www.ecotransitions.com/howto.asp to see how we flush potatoes with 0.8 gallons of water, meant for liquids only. Best regards, Andrea Paulinelli