Bill Challenges Low-Flow Toilets

In another attempt to amend federal water conservation that limit end-users to 1.6 gallon-per-flush toilets, a bill has been reintroduced proposing to legalize traditional 3.5 gallon-per-flush toilets.

By Staff September 17, 2001

In another attempt to amend federal water conservation that limit end-users to 1.6 gallon-per-flush toilets, a bill has been reintroduced proposing to legalize traditional 3.5 gallon-per-flush toilets.

According to the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Joe Knollenberg, R-Mich., the current restrictions, “force consumers to either become lawbreakers or live with showerheads that dribble and toilets that simply don’t get the job done.”

Knollenberg’s main arguments are that the consumer has a right to choose and that state governments, not federal, should decide whether to impose restrictions on manufacturers.

But trade associations such as the Plumbing Manufacturer’s Institute are concerned that a lack of uniform regulations would ultimately lead to wide regulatory variances between states, creating supply and delivery challenges and most likely, higher prices.

Also, because toilets account for a high percentage of water use in facilities, advocates of current water conservation laws note that low-flow toilets benefit the maintenance and operation of water treatment plants.