In our efforts to save water we decided to install a dual flush toilet. But we didn't want to replace our newer toilet because that seemed the the farthest thing from environmental! So after some research we found a dual flush toilet retrofit kit! Say that 5 times fast!
Heres the facts: our toilets are "low flow" meaning they only use 1.6 gallons per flush.
With the dual flush kit:
1.) rinse mode or #1 flush - .8 - 1 gallons per flush
2.) full flush or #2 flush - 1.3- 1.6 gallons per flush
Now I am all for the "if it's yellow let mellow" but after a few of those a rinse flush needs to happen. We did have some quirks with the install and getting it just right. But now that we've figured it out and the dual flush works really well!
We got the kit from Dual Flush Kit. It's reasonably priced at $30, compared with some retrofit kits I've seen. However this one has the advantage of being entirely made in the USA, Michigan in fact which they proudly display all over the box. We have 3 toilets in this house, but we only bought 2 to test out. I should have just gotten that third one but oh well, this spring we'll make that 3rd one happen. Jacob my handy man was only able to install one before his shoulder surgery so the second toilet will get done some time in January.
I also haven't started the cloth TP campaign yet. We ended up with too many late fall chores I needed help with before Jacob's surgery so that got pushed to the wayside for a while. But I intend to move to cloth, at least for #1 I'll keep you posted!
Looks like an excellent plan. Our old toilet doesn't work all that well anyway. Sometimes we have to hold and hold the lever down to get it to flush. Such a waste of water!
ReplyDeleteToilets account for approx. 30% of water used indoors. By installing a Dual Flush toilet you can save between 40% and 70% of drinking water being flushed down the toilet, depending how old the toilet is you are going to replace.
ReplyDeleteIf you have an existing toilet that uses 1.6 gallons per flush, a retrofit kit may be a good choice, however, if your toilet was installed prior to 1994 (when 1.6 gpf models became mandatory), you will only reduce the usage to 1/2 of 3.5 gallons for liquids, still wasting a lot of drinking water.Also, these models need that vast amount of water to work well.
If you are serious about saving water, want a toilet that really works and is affordable, I highly recommend installing a Dual Flush toilet. Caroma toilets offer a patented dual flush technology consisting of a 0.8 Gal flush for liquid waste and a 1.6 Gal flush for solids. On an average of 5 uses a day (4 liquid/ 1 solid) a Caroma Dual Flush toilet uses an average of 0.96 gallons per flush. The new Sydney Smart uses only 1.28 and 0.8 gpf, that is an average of 0.89 gallons per flush. This is the lowest water consumption of any toilet available in the US. Caroma, an Australian company set the standard by giving the world its first successful two button dual flush system in the nineteen eighties and has since perfected the technology. Also, with a full 3.5″ trapway, these toilets virtually never clog. All of Caroma’s toilets are on the list of WaterSense labeled HET’s (High Efficiency toilets) http://www.epa.gov/watersense/pp/find_het.htm and also qualify for several toilet rebate programs available in the US. Please visit my blog http://pottygirl.wordpress.com/2008/08/01/what-you-should-know-about-toilets/
to learn more or visit http://www.ecotransitions.com/howto.asp to see how we flush potatoes with 0.8 gallons of water, meant for liquids only. Best regards, Andrea Paulinelli