Mar 10 2008
The world of the bathroom is changing. Rarely a week goes by without consumers reading about the “greening” of the bathroom, and more often then not, municipalities are putting in programs to save water. From low-flow showerheads to high-efficiency fixtures, the drive to conserve water is real – and it is growing.
“The amount of water on earth has not changed in the last two billion years - but in the last century, water use increased at twice the rate of the world population. The United States flushes 6.8 billion gallons of water down the toilet every day, while more than half of our states anticipate freshwater shortages in the next 10 years,” says Paul DeBoo, Sales Manager for Sloan FLUSHMATE®, the market leader in pressure-assist technology for tank-type toilets.
For example, Denver, Colorado offers $125 rebate for a High-Efficiency Toilet (HET) compared to $25 for a low-flow model. “An HET is defined as a toilet that consumes 20 percent less water than the standard 1.6 gpf (gallons-per-flush) level,” DeBoo explains. “All new toilets are required by federal law to use 1.6 gallons per flush (gpf) or less. The plumbing industry is introducing many new technologies and toilet fixture models that reduce effective flush volumes well below the mandated 1.6 gpf maximum, but not all are the same performance.”
That’s where FLUSHMATE comes in. DeBoo says that FLUSHMATE-equipped toilets utilize pressure instead of gravity to clear the bowl. “In millions of proven installations, our technology has clearly demonstrated itself to be the performance leader because of the ability to deliver repeated results,” he says. “And the Maximum Performance (MaP) test bear this out.”
MaP Testing is a cooperative Canadian and American project under the direction of Veritec Consulting Inc. and Koeller and Company, and was developed to quantify the flush performance level of different models of toilets. The minimum performance benchmark adopted by MaP was 250 grams of waste in a single-flush action. Of importance is that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has adopted 350 grams as a minimum performance threshold for HETs in its WaterSense® Program. Thus, the MaP testing is the “minimum” acceptable level to meet consumer expectations.
“What’s interesting about these tests is not only that municipalities like Denver are using the test results for determining specific rebate numbers, but that consumers are aware that not all toilets will deliver equal performance. Because since when has ‘minimal’ performance been acceptable to consumers? Pressure-assist equipped toilets perform 229% better than the minimum requirements of MaP, and 135% better than the EPA minimum threshold,” DeBoo points out. “It’s important for people to understand that when they are looking to save water.”
The manufacturers who make FLUSHMATE pressure assist equipped HETs in the United States include: Kohler, Mansfield Plumbing, Peerless, St. Thomas Creations, Vitra, Vitromex, Vortens, and Western Pottery. “But we exist in a more global environment,” DeBoo says. He illustrates that fact by pointing out American Standard, Ceralux, Corona, Lamosa, Mancesa and Xinqi are making pressure assist HETs with FLUSHMATE inside in a variety of countries.
“The track record for pressure assist toilets is documented through years of installations,” DeBoo adds. “That record remains impressive, especially when you consider our performance AND water savings.”