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Is a Low-Flow Toilet Right for Me?

Your toilet is the workhorse of the bathroom. Day after day, it does its job humbly and without much fuss. But if yours is on the older side, it’s wasting gallons upon gallons of water per flush. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, all toilets combined account for about 4.8 billion gallons of water each day! And yet that number can be drastically reduced by upgrading to a new, more water-efficient low-flow model.

Read on to learn more about these functional, water-saving, and dare we say – stylish, fixtures.

Conventional vs. Low Flow

If your bathroom is equipped with a pre-1980 toilet, you’re probably wasting about 7 gallons of water with every single flush. Newer models brought that down to 3.5 and 5 gallons per flush (gpf).  Quite the improvement, don’t you think? But today’s water-efficient low-flush models use just a maximum of 1.6 gallons per flush. Pretty impressive!

Cost Savings

Simply put, the less water your household uses, the lower your water bill. How much can you save by switching to a low-flow toilet? Well, that depends on the age of your existing toilet. According to the EPA, replacing an old 7 gpf toilet with a low-flow model can save approximately $220 per year. If your toilet is at the 3.5 gpf level, you can expect a savings of about $110 per year – still pretty significant. And the more toilets you have, the greater the savings.

Types of Low-Flow Toilets

• High-Efficiency – A high-efficiency toilet (HET) uses 20 percent less water than a standard 1.6 gallon low-flow model. See if your municipality offers an incentive for upgrading to an HET (which can help offset the cost of installation).
• Low-Flow Single Flush – A more affordable option than an HET, a low-flow single flush toilet uses a mere 1.6 gallons per flush compared to the standard 3.5 gallons of a slightly older model.
• Dual Flush – A dual flush toilet, as the name suggests, offers two flush options – one for solid waste that uses  1.6 gpf, and one for liquid waste that uses just 0.8 gpf. However, these toilets have a higher upfront cost and require a little getting used to.
• Pressure Assisted – Once available only for commercial use, pressure assisted toilets are quickly making their way into homes. They feature a sealed tank that pressurizes the water inside it, thus forcefully expelling the water with every flush. The result is a powerful flush that uses just around 1.2 gpf.

Is Low-Flow Right for Me?

Replacing a standard toilet with a low-flow model is an excellent way to reduce your household’s water usage. Contact Messmer Mechanical today and we’ll help you decide which option is best for you by reviewing upfront cost and expected water bill savings.