Rebates offered for water efficient toilets
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Douglasville-Douglas County Water and Sewer Authority (WSA) recently learned it will receive $300,000 under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) to help fund its rebate program to encourage homeowners to install more water efficient toilets.
The funding is administered through the Georgia Environmental Facilities Authority (GEFA) as a loan to WSA, according to Barbara Williams, WSA spokesperson. Sixty percent of the loan is forgiven while WSA pays back the other 40 percent over a two-year period.
“All homes built since 1994 have been required by law to have these more efficient toilets,” Williams said. “However, there’s many older homes in the county that still have the older toilets which can qualify for rebates under the program.”
She said a homeowner who installs the highest efficiency 1.28 gallons per flush toilet will get a $100 rebate, while a 1.6 gallon per flush toilet will earn a $50 rebate.
“Each home can get rebates for a maximum of two toilets,” Williams said.
Rebate applications and information on the rebate program are available on the WSA Web page, www.ddcwsacom. Applications can also be picked up in the WSA office lobby, 8763 Hospital Drive, Douglasville. WSA has lists of toilets which meet the requirements for rebates.
“The application must include the original copy of the sales receipt for the toilet,” Williams said. “Once the application is received, it’s sent through a process of verifying that the applicant is a WSA customer and in good financial standing with WSA. It takes about 3-4 weeks from the time of application to receive the rebate check.”
Williams said the rebate program, which began Oct. 15, has received 325 applications and about $45,000 in rebate funds have been paid to customers.
If you are serious about saving water, want a toilet that really works and is affordable, I highly recommend installing a Caroma Dual Flush toilet. They offer a patented dual flush technology consisting of a 0.8 Gal flush for liquid waste and a 1.6 Gal flush for solids. On an average of 5 uses a day (4 liquid/ 1 solid) a Caroma Dual Flush toilet uses an average of 0.96 gallons per flush. The new Sydney Smart uses only 1.28 and 0.8 gpf, that is an average of 0.89 gallons per flush. This is the lowest water consumption of any toilet available in the US. Caroma, an Australian company set the standard by giving the world its first successful two button dual flush system in the 1980’s and has since perfected the technology. Also, with a full 3.5″ trapway, these toilets virtually never clog. All 47 floor mounted models are on the list of WaterSense labeled HET’s (High Efficiency toilets) http://www.epa.gov/watersense/pp/find_het.htm and qualify for thel toilet rebate programs available in the US. They are available in round, elongated, regular height and ADA compliant "chair height" in white and biscuit. Please visit my blog http://pottygirl.wordpress.com/2008/08/01/what-you-should-know-about-toilets/
to learn more or visit http://www.ecotransitions.com/howto.asp to see how we flush potatoes with 0.8 gallons of water, meant for liquids only. Best regards, Andrea Paulinelli
Better water conservation practices come from changing to low flow shower heads, fixing leaky faucets, shutting off the water while shaving or brushing one's teeth...timers on sprinklers, water efficient washers, and saving rain water.