If you are shopping for a new toilet, you will likely find that many of the residential toilets on the market today are WaterSense labeled high efficiency toilets. These differ from standard low flow toilets because they use at least 20% less water per flush. Standard low flow toilets were introduced in the early 1990’s to meet federal standards and use a maximum of 1.6 gallons of water per flush.
WaterSense high efficiency toilets rely on recent advances in toilet design to use a maximum of 1.28 gallons per flush. WaterSense is a program run by the Environmental Protection Agency to help consumers conserve water by selecting water efficient products that do not sacrifice performance. In order to earn the WaterSense label, a product must be certified by an independent testing agency to use 20 percent less water while performing as well as or better than standard products.
When it comes to toilets, many consumers have unpleasant memories of the 1.6 gallon per flush low flow toilets that were introduced in the 1990s to meet federal mandates. Most of those toilets suffered from poor flushing performance and often needed clogged toilet repairs. Consumers are understandably hesitant to choose a high efficiency toilet that uses even less water per flush than the federal mandate.
The WaterSense program was designed to help with these concerns by requiring independent testing to certify that toilets and other products that qualify for the WaterSense label use less water without any decrease in performance. WaterSense toilets have been designed to have excellent flushing performance while using less water. Replacing existing toilets with WaterSense toilets can save a typical family about 2,000 gallons of water per year. When you need a new toilet, talk to your plumber about installing a new WaterSense toilet.
