Not many women who’ve recently turned 30 can brag that their husbands gave them the gift of a toilet for the big day. I’m not making fun of Nate; in fact, I asked for a toilet. I’ve been thinking lately about upgrading a water-using appliance/utility to use less H20 in light of the overwhelming mess our metro area finds itself in when it comes to water supply and usage.
My ulterior motive for asking Nate for a birthday toilet was that I know the guy is as thorough a web-researcher as you will find, and that he would single out the best, most affordable option available. And he delivered.
In the “olden days,” your average toilet had a three gallon tank. Three gallons of water lost per flush– wow. Nowadays the standard low flow toilet has a 1.6 gallon tank. Our new Australian beauty, the Caroma, is a dual-flush toilet (with a #1 and #2 option, if you will) with a .8 gallon small flush and 1.2 gallon big flush. And the amazing thing is that it flushes like a champ with a 4-inch trap, twice as wide as the average. Check out this video of a guy flushing a large russet potato with the .8 gallon flush: http://mysa.vo.llnwd.net/o2
Are you interested? Well, the good news is that Georgia (and many other states) offers a $50 or $100 rebate for low-flow and dual-flush toilets in order to spur a consumer shift to more eco-friendly purchases. Below I have listed all of the relevant GA information as well as the supplier we used. If you are living in the U.S. but not in Georgia, just do a google search similar to “low-flush toilet rebate (your state)” and I’m sure you’ll find something.
So, I’m issuing an open invitation to come an try out our toilet with the secret hope that not many of you take me up on the offer.
Georgia rebate information:
http://www.northgeorgiawater
Toilets that qualify for a $50 rebate:
http://www.northgeorgiawater
Toilets that qualify for a $100 rebate:
http://www.epa.gov/watersense
Rebate form (can get up to 2 rebates per household):
http://www.northgeorgiawater
Our supplier:
http://atlantawatersolutions
Comments
Hey - a happy birthday toilet. I love it. We installed a 2-flusher in our basement bathroom this winter - the Toto Aquia. At the time, it was the only domestic 2-flush. I’d read varying reviews about it - some liked it, some didn’t. We’ve been happy with ours so far. It seems to work great, no problems with clogging, and only using half the water for liquids feels much better than the full flush. It does require a bit more effort to install - you need to have the water supply over a bit further than with a traditional toilet, and it requires some additional securing to the floor. But hey, if an amateur like me can do it…
Look forward to hearing how you like your birthday present - happy throning
AJ
Yeah, but will it flush a yam….
…don’t worry; I won’t let Mark eat yams anytime soon!
Ha! Love this post, Kathleen. I giggled my way past the title and on into the offer to come try out the super-duper flusher. But, as always, you have great information in there, too. You need a Green Queen tiara to wear while perched atop your shiny new throne.
but what did you do with the old throne?? that’s my big hangup on this kind of stuff is that i’m not thrilled about the idea of putting the current one on the curb to sit in a landfill somewhere…and i don’t have a big enough garden to add it…
Great question, Lesley. I think that there is a real tension between wanting to keep consumption down (e.g. not buying every new enviro-friendly car, utility, appliance) and, well, wanting to keep consumption down (e.g. using less water). There is energy and materials expended in creating new products, shipping/trucking them places, and throwing the old away. In the case of our leftover toilet, it is still a moderately efficient 1.6 gallon tank, and our next door neighbor has claimed it. But that also means that she’s now throwing one to the curb…
Hi there,
I am also a distributor for Caroma’s dual flush toilets here in GA and I am currently working on a deal with a waste company that is recycling these old toilets. My goal is to find enough interested participants (i.e. plumbing companies etc) so I provide a container behind my warehouse.
Best regards,
Andrea Paulinelli, ecoTransitions Inc.
I’m jealous. Dual-flush toilets are really common here (Denmark), though of course, our flat doesn’t have one. Without going into too much detail, I’ll just say I’m quite sure ours would not flush a russet potato. I would have been thrilled with such a birthday present!