By
Niusha Faghih
Arizona Daily Wildcat
The 1.6-gallon toilets conserve more water than older toilets
Two UA researchers are working to keep people from flushing their money down the toilet.
Nationally, $150 million has been saved annually in toilet water from the implementation of low-flow toilets, said Thomas Babcock, a water resource specialist for the City of Phoenix.
Gary Woodard, the assistant director for Knowledge Transfer in the UA Hydrology and Water Resources department, and Jim Henderson, a former research specialist at the UA Water Resources Research Center, published a report Wednesday regarding their study on the water consumption of tank toilets in the Tucson water service area.
The study, "Functioning of Aging Low-Consumption Toilets in Tucson," is the first and only study of a low-consumption toilets in the world, Woodard said.
Out of 170 of the low-consumption toilets tested, they found that 57 percent of the 1.6-gallon toilets were working fine, while 43 percent had problems with wasting water, Woodard said.
The houses were hooked up with data loggers, which had sensors, for a period of three weeks in late November to early December 1998.
The loggers were attached to water meters located outside of the houses and left alone for four days. The amount of water used was measured every few seconds.
The houses were randomly selected, but all had low-flow toilets - toilets that use 1.6 gallons of water or less - and had applied for a rebate from the City of Tucson for purchasing a low-flow toilet. Tucson encouraged owners of older homes to put in new toilets because old toilets consumed up to five gallons of water per flush, Babcock said.
The City of Tucson has spent an average of $65 for toilet rebates on 20,000 toilets from 1990 to 1995 for Tucsonans who have purchased 1.6-gallon toilets, said Mitch Basefsky, a public information officer for Tucson Water . The total amounted to $1.3 million in those years.
National standards have required low-flow toilets in houses since 1992.
The inhabitants of the houses did not know that the water for the toilets was being measured.
"The university was concerned that people would alter their behavior if they knew that the water loggers were there," Babcock said
As the information was gathered, the data was hooked up to a computer and specialized software looked for patterns in water use.
Data in the study that was recorded dealt with the number of times toilets were flushed, the amount of water used, if the toilets were leaking, and if the toilets were double-flushed.
Toilet flushing is the largest component of indoor water use and makes up 30 to 45 percent of the water use, Woodard said.
The study is already having an effect in Los Angeles, Babcock said.
"The city of L.A. has been doing everything they can to cut back on water," Babcock said.
"They have rebate programs and they will even go out and change toilets to the 1.6-gallon toilets," to reduce the consumption of water in the toilet, he said.
If there are better toilets out there, then water would be saved, Woodard said.
