According to EPA estimates, toilets account for about 30% of the water usage in the average home. In an attempt to help water conservation efforts, federal regulations went into effect in the early 1990’s that limited the amount of water a toilet could use per flush to 1.6 gallons which was less than half of what a typical toilet previously used. Unless they have been replaced, if your home was built before 1994 it probably has older style toilets.
Unfortunately, toilet manufacturers were not ready to make the switch. Most simply modified existing toilet designs to use less water per flush. As a result, most toilets sold in the US after 1994 met the federal requirements but did not do a very good job of flushing waste. These toilets were designed to use 3.5 to 4 gallons of water per flush and 1.6 gallons of water simply didn’t do the job.
Consumers quickly got the word and tried hard to avoid the new toilets if at all possible. Homeowners with older style toilets repaired them rather than replace them with new low flow toilets and some desperate consumers went so far as to illegally sneak new toilets across the border from Canada.
The good news is that consumers no longer have to engage in toilet smuggling in order to get an affordable, good flushing toilet. In recent years toilet manufacturers finally started designing toilets to work well while using only 1.6 gallons per flush. Most low flow toilets on the market today boast flushing performance equal to or better than their water wasting pre-1994 cousins.
If you have been waiting to replace your older style toilets, now is the time to talk to your plumber about installing modern low flow toilets in your home. They work great and save the average household about 9,000 gallons of water per year.
