If you’ve ever found yourself stuck in the loo, waiting to reflush a new 1.6-gallon toilet two or three times to clear the bowl, you may be happy to hear that a member of Congress is as outraged as you are.
Inspired by constituents complaining about problem privies, early last year Rep. Joe Knollenberg (R-Mich.) proposed a bill–with 30 co-sponsors–that promises to get the government out of your bathroom, says senior adviser Trent Wisecup.
But don’t hold the plunger waiting for relief from Congress. Any rollback of the Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1992, which mandated the low-flow toilets, seems unlikely. Lined up on the other side is virtually the entire plumbing industry allied with environmentalists. They say the current water-saver guidelines are needed both for water conservation and to maintain a uniform plumbing code instead of the previous patchwork of state codes.
Besides, they say, toilet technology is greatly improved. And any repeal of current law would destroy millions of dollars of inventory, not to mention the cost of retooling factories once again, notes Pat O’Connor, legislative counsel for the American Supply Association, which represents wholesalers and distributors.
Such a defense of these new less tidy toilets is little consolation to those like Janet Avery, who purchased one of the first generation of 1.6-gallon toilets. “I would say I’m plunging at least once a week if not more because it gets clogged,” says the Wilmette homeowner. “You end up flushing three times more often” to get the toilet to work. And when there are children, who seem naturally programmed to experiment with plumbing fixtures. You have to be extra careful, she notes, since even a little too much toilet paper can cause problems.
“Horrible” is how Evanston contractor John J. Cahill Jr. describes the 1.6-gallon toilets. Cahill has replaced at least 100 of the new 1.6-gallon toilets during the last year with a large stash of the old 3.5-gallon models he has remaining in stock. A nearby competitor, Flader Plumbing, went so far as to put a big banner in its window on Central Street in Evanston: “Last chance. We have 3.5-gallon toilets at a special price.”
Cahill points out three flushes times 1.6 gallons equals 4.8 gallons, not exactly a water savings over the old. The plumbing industry counters in its written response to Knollenberg’s bill that three-quarters of all flushes are for the removal of liquid waste and do not require double flushing. Coming to the rescue, albeit a little late, are the plumbing manufacturers, who readily concede the first couple of generations of low-flow toilets had their problems. (The Energy Conservation Act gave them only 18 months for the residential changeover.) The newest models are dramatically improved, they say, with some even exceeding the performance of the old 3.5-gallon toilets.
There are two main types of toilets in today’s water-saver world: those that rely on gravity for flushing and others called pressure-assist toilets, which use air or water pressure to speed the water’s flow through the toilet. This last category includes flushometers, in which a larger water pipe connects via a special valve directly to the toilet (minus the tank) and are typically seen in commercial applications.
Most new home buyers should not have a problem with the 1.6-gallon gravity flush toilets, insists Richard Church, president of the Plumbing Manufacturers Institute. But in older homes, where the pipes may be partially constricted, or in older high-rises with long horizontal pipes, he concedes, a pressure-assist model might be the answer. You might be thinking, hey this law isn’t fair; out here in the Great Lakes region we have water to spare. But, environmentalists point out, you’ve got to consider the other side of the equation.
For one thing, toilets account for about one-quarter of all residential water use, and low-flush toilets save 25 to 60 gallons a day, depending on the number of people in the household, according to the Natural Resource Defense Council. In New York City alone, the new toilets save 50 million gallons of water a day.
In addition, several cities in the country, including Los Angeles and New York, have instituted rebate programs to encourage residents to switch over to the 1.6-gallon toilets. So, environmentalists point out, even if the nation were to repeal the law that requires them, 1.6-gallon toilets won’t go away. In short, says Lance Nordell, product manager for American Standard Co., “People have to get used to the change in the performance of the toilet.”
