If you have been reluctant to replace your old toilet because you were concerned about the performance of the new “low flow” toilets, you will be happy to know that modern low flow toilets have been greatly improved since they were first introduced in the mid 1990s. Prior to 1995, toilets in the United States used between 3.5 and 7 gallons of water per flush.
While all that water did a great job of flushing the waste down the drain, it was a huge waste of water. As much as one third of all household water usage in those days was attributed to flushing toilets. To help conserve water, government regulations took effect in 1995 that limited all new toilets sold in the U.S. to using 1.6 gallons of water.
Most toilet manufacturers were unprepared for the changeover to the new lower standards and simply decreased the amount of water used per flush in their existing toilet designs. The result was that most of these low flow toilets performed poorly. Consumers complained about toilet clogs and resorted to “double flushing” to get the performance needed which defeated the purpose of low flow toilets.
Manufacturers have since responded by redesigning their toilets and introducing new models that use less water per flush while delivering excellent performance. In fact, most toilet makers offer standard single flush toilets that work great while only using 1.3 gallons of water per flush.
Other innovations include dual flush toilets that offer a choice of using .8 gallon of water for liquid waste and 1.6 gallons of water for solid waste and pressure assist toilets that use air pressure to help remove waste. The bottom line is that there is no reason to put off buying a modern, water saving toilet for your home.
