Is your toilet a clunker?
Well, if it was made before 1991 and uses more than 3 1/2 gallons per flush, then you've got a clunker.
And Tucson Water wants you to get rid of it. The utility is offering to pay half the cost of high-efficiency toilets for its customers to get rid of the water-wasting potties.
The high-efficiency toilets use less than 1.3 gallons per flush. Mind you, these are not to be confused with low-flow toilets, which use about 1.6 gallons per flush.
"Tucson Water kind of made a niche for (high-efficiency toilets) whereas before people didn't really know about it," said John Palermo, a manager at Ferguson Enterprises Inc., which sells wholesale building and plumbing supplies.
Since the beginning of the year the wholesale plumbing supplier, which has five locations in Tucson and one in Sierra Vista, has sold 724 water-saving toilets, Palermo said. A Ferguson store at 3445 E. Kleindale Road sold 270, he said.
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Before then, high-efficiency toilet sales to people just looking to save water were negligible, he said.
Fernando Molina, a spokesman with Tucson Water, said the program started in July 2008 but seems to have become more popular recently. Between July 2008 and June 2009, Tucson Water issued rebates for 812 toilets, he said. This July, Tucson Water issued 106 rebates. It did reject 32 applications. Turns out, not all toilets are clunkers.
This year the Tucson City Council budgeted $798,000 for water conservation rebates. The money also goes toward a toilet-replacement program for low-income residents and rebates for people who want to upgrade their irrigation systems so they use less water.
But of the conservation programs, the toilet rebate is the most popular, Molina said.
Funds for the conservation program come from a fee of 4 cents per 100 cubic feet of water charged to Tucson Water customers.
Brian Forester, the owner of Economy Plumbing Service LLC, said his installation of the water-saving toilets has increased noticeably.
He's now putting in as many as 10 per month, which is a jump in the amount he previously installed.
"They've gone up since this Tucson Water rebate," Forester said. "I've done more and more."
The timing is right, Palermo said, because toilets don't usually last longer than 20 years. "If you have one of those toilets, it's pretty old, and you probably want to replace it," he said.
terms of rebate
• Only high-efficiency toilet fixtures approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency WaterSense program qualify for the rebate. For a list, see www.epa.gov/watersense/ p
find_het.htm
• The fixture must replace a toilet that was made before 1991 and uses 3.5 gallons per flush.
• Toilets must be installed on properties receiving water from Tucson Water.
• For residential customers, the rebate amount is limited to 50 percent of the purchase price with a maximum of $120 per toilet.
• Old toilet fixtures must not be reused and must be rendered inoperable.
• Participants in the rebate program must consent to an inspection of the property to verify purchase.
• Fixtures replaced as part of a general construction permit, such as a house remodeling, do not qualify for the rebate.
• For more information see www.tucsonaz.gov/water/rebate, where you can download an application for the rebate program, or call 791-4331.