It’s unlikely that too many people these days have one of the older toilets that literally wasted huge amounts of water. Some exist in older homes and it would be wise to replace them as soon as possible, both for money savings and environmental benefits.

In the early 1990s, water use laws were passed that, among other things, required certain plumbing fixtures to meet water use standards. While the goal of the laws was well-intentioned and much-needed, the result was anything but initially successful. The first generation of low-flow toilets did not work well.

The problem with the first attempt to introduce low-flow toilets was that while the amount of water was reduced from up to seven gallons per flush to the more environmentally friendly 1.6 gallons per flush that are common today in day, there was no real change in unit design and the results were less than desirable.

But that soon changed when people started using them and they weren’t really up to the task. They didn’t do a great job of flushing the debris down the drain line. So the engineers made a few changes and now they run to the same performance standards as the older, wasteful models.

So now you’re probably wondering what’s the deal with these devices and how much can we expect to save? Well, there are some estimates available that suggest that the total volume of water used to flush toilets in residential dwellings represents about 75% of the total amount of water used in the urban area. That means nearly 5 billion gallons of water is said to be flushed down the drain each day in the United States alone. On an individual level, therefore, it is estimated that American households use 9,000 gallons of water a year for their toilets.

The numbers are quite staggering and are not meant to suggest that the actual amount of water is wasted, but they do serve to illustrate how much water would be wasted if no one used low-flow toilets. Just multiply by 4 and you’ll get a good idea. Fortunately, most people use low-flow toilets these days. When you choose to install low-flow toilets, you will significantly reduce the amount of water you use each year. That’s also why the government mandated the changes that led to today’s low-flush toilets, which will do the same job as before, but only use 1.6 gallons of water each time you flush.

Chances are, you’re already taking advantage of modern low-flow toilets in your home, saving water and money in the process. Not because it made a conscious decision to do so, but because it’s the standard manufacturers have had to meet for nearly two decades. But if you recently bought an older home, or if you’ve had toilets since before the water use laws went into effect and you’re using one of the older toilets, now is the time to upgrade to an eco-friendly one that will will save money. model.