“For the first time ever, I can say that I love my toilets,” — Sarah Richards, Serenbe Community, Chattahoochee Hills, GA
Low flow delivered high satisfaction with at least 25 percent in water savings for 21 homeowners in two suburban Atlanta communities who volunteered to replace their existing plumbing products with high-efficiency WaterSense®-certified models.
If it comes as a surprise that people are finally happy with low-flow toilets, that was the point of this mass retrofit last fall that included replacing 71 toilets, 96 faucets and 55 showerheads in 71 bathrooms. “We want to convince homeowners, building professionals and legislators that water conservation doesn’t mean sacrifice,” said Tommy Linstroth.
Georgia’s first licensed GreenPlumber®, Nick Marine of Marietta, GA-based Marine Plumbing, installed toilets and bathroom faucets that save at least 20 percent more water and showerheads that save from 20 to 40 percent more than current standards. Nine volunteer families were recruited from the Serenbe community in Chattahoochee Hills, GA and 11 stepped up to the challenge from Chastain Lakes in Kennesaw, GA.
Funding and products for the test were supplied by American Standard Brands to demonstrate that the technology behind WaterSense-labeled products has greatly advanced consumer satisfaction with water-savers in the bathroom. WaterSense is administered by the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and modeled after the EnergySTAR® labeling program to help assure consumers that products will conserve and perform as promised.
“We absolutely LOVE our new fixtures. Our showerheads seem to have better water pressure and we are conserving water now, which we weren’t before,” reported Serenbe homeowner Dallas Nevins, two months after installation. “We have been super-pleased and surprised with how well the American Standard toilets flush.
“Having two young children, sometimes they use a whole roll of toilet paper for one sitting. So, in the past, we’ve had to pull the plunger out on more than one occasion. Since we have our new toilets, we’ve yet to run into a problem and have been ‘plunge-free,’” continued Nevins, an allied member of the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID).
“I can’t tell any difference with the volume of water in the shower and sinks which is great…I was afraid I would get a dribble,” said Serenbe homeowner Tom Reed.
Linstroth documented at least a 20 percent collective savings in overall water usage at Serenbe, a savings that has remained consistent over two months. Serenbe homeowners had toilets that used up to 1.6 gallons per flush (gpf), bathroom faucets that had a flow-rate of 2.0 gallons per minute (gpm) and showerheads with usage not exceeding 2.5 gpm.
At Chastain Lakes, an older suburb built more than 20 years ago, Linstroth documented at least a 25 percent savings from the retrofit working with one month of water usage data. “We would expect results in Chastain to be higher, since there were still old toilets in those homes. The math alone would dictate a near 50 percent reduction using siphonic dual flush toilets in place of those old 3.5 gallon toilets,” Linstroth said.
“But our numbers get diluted because of all the other fixtures in the house – irrigation, clothes washing, dishwashing, etc., – they all bring down our totals.” Linstroth continued, noting this as the reason it is hard for homeowners to use their water bills to encourage water-saving behavior. Linstroth plans to release a second report later this spring after amassing more months of data from the participating homeowners.
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