New Toilet Installation
Toilets account for approximately 30% of residential indoor water consumption—by far the main source of water use in the home. Replacing a pre 1994 toilet with a new high-efficiency model can reduce water used for toilets by at least 60% and save about 16% of total indoor water use. Savings for a typical household would be more than 10,000 gallons per year. Below is information on purchasing toilets and recycling old toilets.
Toilet Performance and Efficiency
Greeley's Water Conservation Program recommends that you purchase a toilet with a Maximum Performance (MaP) score of 500 or above to ensure you receive a high quality model. MaP testing provides performance information on more than 700 toilet models. MaP testing provides a quantitative assessment of real toilet performance. Visit The California Urban Water Conservation Council's web page with a listing of toilets, performance ratings and more information on testing procedures.
Some low flow toilets manufactured in the early 1990s often had problems and a reputation of not working well. Since then, manufacturers have invested in research and development to design low volume toilets that work as well as or better than the ones they replace. Customer satisfaction surveys confirm that owners of low-flow toilets rate them very highly about 90% of the time.
Under federal law, toilets must not exceed 1.6 gallons per flush (gpf). High-efficiency models also called ultra-low-flow toilets go beyond the standard and use 1.28 gpf. Recent advancements have allowed toilets to use 20% less water than the current federal standard, while still providing equal or superior performance.
WaterSense, a program sponsored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, is helping consumers identify high-performance water-efficient toilets, to reduce water use in the home and preserve water resources. The WaterSense label is used on toilets that are certified by independent laboratory testing to meet rigorous criteria for both performance and efficiency. Only high-efficiency toilets that complete the third-party certification process can earn the WaterSense label.
Toilet Recycling
The City of Greeley now offers free toilet recycling at the GR eeley O rganic W aste (GROW) Center (the name has changed from the Green ReCycle Center). The Water Conservation Program, the Public Works Streets Division and the Natural Resources Division have teamed up on this project.
Toilets, urinals and sinks can be disposed of at the GROW Center. The drop off facility is located at 1130 East 8 th Street . To be accepted for recycling, the seat cover and any metal or plastic parts must be removed from the toilet. Only the porcelain parts can be recycled. After toilets are dropped off for recycling, the Streets Division will crush the ceramic tank and bowl. The porcelain is used as a component in road base .
After you recycle a toilet, you receive a voucher to submit when you apply for a Water Conservation Rebate . Rebates are available to eligible Greeley Water Customers who purchase new toilets and follow all of the program rules. When you apply for a rebate, you need to show proof of proper disposal to make sure the toilet will not be reinstalled at another location. Please provide a recycling voucher from the GROW Center when applying for a rebate.