According to Robert Glennon, author of Unquenchable, with the exception of the Great Lakes region, the rest of the United States is on the verge of or is already experiencing a fresh water crisis.  One way apartment building owners and condominium associations can help alleviate the current water shortages is to replace water hogging commodes with new dual-flush or high efficiency toilets.

Older toilets manufactured prior to 1994 can use 3-6 gallons of water per flush (gpf) while newer models tend to use 1.6 gpf.  In California, maximum 1.6 gpf commodes must be installed prior to close of escrow.  But, while a 1.6 gpf toilet is better than 3.0 gpf model, in recent years, new, well tested models that use even less water have come on the market.

High Efficiency Toilets (HETs)

HETs are single flush models that use 1.28 gallons per flush and are quite effective.  They look like regular toilets, but use 20% less fresh, clean water to dispose of waste and require no resident education beyond the advice to use as little toilet paper as possible.  If you are responsible for the water bills in your complex, then this reduction in water use will have a direct effect on the net operating income of the property.

Dual-Flush

Quite popular in drought stricken countries like Australia and used extensively in Europe and Asia, dual-flush toilets use a two-button system, one for liquids and one for solids.  Generally speaking, they use 0.8 gpf for liquids and 1.6 gpf for solids.  There are also models being introduced that use 0.8 and 1.28 gpf.  This may sound complicated to the uninitiated, but these commodes are as simple to use as any other.  The buttons are marked, so two-minutes of resident education should suffice.  Like HETs, using only small quantities of toilet paper is recommended.

HET vs Dual-Flush

It would seem to be common sense that dual-flush models would use less water overall than HETs, but, surprisingly, a study published in Water Efficiency concluded ’dual-flush toilet performance is quite similar to the rated flush volume of a single-flush HET’.  While these results seem counter intuitive, it may be that what is needed is greater resident education and manufacturers’ quality control to ensure flush volumes equal stated claims.

What is certain is that using either an HET or dual-flush will save water and money over a standard or even low flow 1.6 gpf fixture and generous rebates are currently available.

Dual-Flush Kits

There are also several types of kits on the market for turning single flush toilets into dual-flush models and some seem to get good reviews.  The cost of the kit, installation charges, warranty, functionality and life cycle or likelihood of breakage should be taken into consideration when purchasing a kit.  If you have any experience with these kits, we would love to hear your thoughts.

By replacing or converting your existing fixtures, multifamily property owners and managers can decrease their asset’s water footprint, reduce the stress on fresh water supplies and increase net operating income.  What are you waiting for?

Other Articles of Interest:

• Jimbo & the Dual Flush Retrofit Kit
• Battle of the Bathroom: Faucets, Showerheads, & Toilets
• WaterSense is Common Sense