Comments colwyn has made

Choosing an efficient toilet that works

Many of the first 1.6 gallon toilets introduced in the US after they were mandated by the EPA in the early 1990's didn't work very well.  But the technology has come a long way in 15 years and most 1.6 gallon toilets generally now work better than the older, less efficient fixtures they have replaced.  

One of the incentives for manufacturers to improve the performance of the toilets has been effective performance testing funded by water utilities in the US and Canada (including Los Angeles).  The Maximum Performance (MaP) Test has been used to rate almost every make and model of toilet on the North American market, and the results are available on the web at http://www.cuwcc.org/MapTesting.lasso so anyone can choose a toilet that will reliably clear the waste with just one efficient flush.

The MaP test, along with a durability rating system developed in Los Angeles called SPS, has been adopted by the EPA as part of its new Water Sense standard for High Efficiency Toilets (HET's) that use less than 1.3 gallons per flush (this includes dual flush toilets that average less than 1.3 gallons).  Any toilet bearing the Water Sense HET label must be able to reliably flush at least 350 grams (3/4 lb) of solids (soybean paste is used for the test because of its "realistic" properties...).  For toilets at least, it is no longer true that a gain in efficiency comes at a price in performace.On Umbra on replacing toilets posted 2 years, 4 months ago 8 Responses