Tired of your old toilet? Looking for a way to save on your water bill? Look no further than the new toilet rebate program, approved by the Davis City Council earlier this month. The program would provide a rebate for the purchase and installation of a high-efficiency toilet, in an effort to decrease water consumption. To be eligible for the program, residents must live in a pre-1993 single family home with an old toilet that uses 3.5 gallons per flush (gpf) or more.
“Providing a rebate should encourage customers with older models to install water efficient toilets,” said Richard Tsai, senior utility resource specialist with the city of Davis, in a press release. “Customers who participate in the program will reduce their long term indoor water use significantly.”
A $125 rebate will be provided to those who purchase and install new high-efficiency toilets with at most 1.28 gpf. There is a limit of two rebates per residence. The program will run from now until June 30, 2012.
“Old toilets use more water than any other indoor appliance, so targeting their replacement can result in significant water savings,” said Jacques DeBra, utilities manager with the City of Davis, in a press release.
Old toilets can be taken to the Yolo County Central Landfill or to the Bulky Items Drop-Off days at Davis Waste Removal, April 7 and 8 from 4 to 7 p.m. and April 9 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. After the Bulky Items Drop-Off days, toilet rebate participants can call to schedule an appointment to drop off their toilets.
The city hopes this program will substantially reduce water consumption, as well as lessen its environmental impact.
“The city has the potential to save 4 million gallons of water per year if 250 homes participate in this program. Along with water conservation, energy will be saved from pumping of the water from wells and treating the wastewater after it has gone down the toilet,” Tsai said.
According to Tsai, rebate participants can expect to save 1300 gallons of water per month, per home.
The city’s 2009 Energy Efficiency and Conservation Black Grant will fund the rebate program in large part. That same year, City Council authorized the use of $51,000 of the EECBG funds to be used for residential water efficiency improvements, and after careful evaluation, the toilet rebate program emerged as their option.
So far, 24 residents have applied for the toilet rebate program.
ANNABEL SANDHU can be contacted at city@theaggie.org.
