High Efficiency Toilets

Posted on 22. Oct, 2009 by Marty in water conservation

This blog was posted in Water Efficiency Magazine by Alex Ornelas on January 5, 2009.  Remember if you have any questions about sewage or water treatment, just post a comment or question for me.  I’ll be happy to try to answer your questions.

 

Toilets use more water in the home than any other appliance or fixture totaling approximately 30 percent of residential indoor water consumption. As a result of this usage, toilets often leak contributing to major water loss as well.

Designed for water conservation, high- efficiency toilets (HETs) have been defined by the plumbing industry and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as those that use an average of 20 percent less water per flush than the industry standard of 1.6 gallons (or, 1.28 gallons). Using a high-efficiency unit (in place of 1.6 gallon flush units) can save up to 8,760 gallons of water each year for a family of four with average daily flushes of six each. In municipalities like Washington D.C., this roughly translates to a water/sewer usage annual savings of $50.00. Savings will be greater in climates were water is in shorter supply.
 
There are four (4) types of water efficient toilet systems currently available.

Gravity Fed Single- Flush Toilets
Gravity fed single- flush toilets operate the same way as any standard toilet, however, they use less total capacity per flush. Typical flush capacities that are available for these models are 1.1 and 1.28 gallons.

Dual-Flush Toilets
Designed for light and heavy flushes, dual-flush toilets tend to average less than 1.2 gallons per flush. They meet HET criteria of 1.28 gallons per flush or less (HET criteria for dual- flush toilets identifies the effective flush volume as the average of one high flush and two low flushes). Dual- flush models are available from many well-known manufacturers with light flush capacities from 0.8 to 1.1 gallons and heavy flush capacities from 1.3 to 1.6 gallons per flush. These toilets typically operate with a handle that can move up or down, or a two-button system. One direction or button will activate the lower flow flush, while the other will activate the higher flow flush.

Pressure Assist Toilets
Pressure assist, or pressurized tank, toilets are another high- performance, low-  consumption alternative. These toilets use either water line pressure or a device in the tank to create additional force from air pressure to flush the toilet. The device in the tank could either be a storage device with compressed air that would require replacement or a tank that creates pressure when the tank is being filled. These toilets typically average 1.1 to 1.2 gallons per flush. Some pressure assist systems move a greater volume of water at a significantly lesser volume of sound.

Power Assist Toilets
Power assist toilets operate using a pump to force water down at a higher velocity than gravity toilets. Power assist toilets require a 120-V power source to operate the small fractional horsepower pump. Typical flush volumes are between 1.0 and 1.3 gallons per flush and dual-flush models are also available.

Companies that produce these types of products, such as Niagara conservation , and the Chicago faucet company, will be exhibiting at the annual WaterEC conference.

All of these systems are strong alternatives that offer attractive cost savings and contribute to our conservation efforts. For additional information please search our archives at www.waterefficiency.net.

 

 

 

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