Hard-to-Find Toilets Flush Away Effort to Save on Water

Los Angeles’ superheated construction and real estate markets are getting a dash of cold water in the face--about 1.5 gallons of it.

Avid to save water, the Los Angeles City Council approved a water conservation ordinance effective April 28, ordering that no building permits be issued for new structures unless they are equipped with state-of-the-art 1.5-gallon-per-flush “ultra-low flush toilets.”

And, in letters mailed last week to about 500 escrow companies, the city reminded them that before closing escrow, every property seller must certify that, in addition to water-saving showerheads, toilets flush 3.5 gallons or less.

But there is a clog or two in the pipeline.

- While experts say the building frenzy in Los Angeles County gobbles up about 100,000 new toilets a month, the combined production of the new 1.5-gallon models by domestic and foreign toilet-makers adds up to only several thousand a month--and that is the supply for the entire nation.

And so far, none of those models have been officially approved for use in the City of Los Angeles, whose test lab is still scrutinizing the toilets’ performance.

“If there’s not one you can buy, then the law is essentially null at this point,” said John Stodder Jr., a special assistant to Mayor Tom Bradley. “It’s the supply problem that has us giving consideration to a delay” in enforcing the ordinance.

- A certificate of compliance requires the services of either a licensed plumber, or one of the only 18 retrofitters to date licensed by the city. And even with retrofitting, some older toilets might not measure up to water-saving requirements, meaning a costly replacement with the 1.5-gallon model.

“If you have a 3.5-gallon toilet (required for the last 10 years), you’re still OK,” said Brian Boyle, of Merrill Boyle Construction, who holds the city’s first retrofitter license. “But if you’ve got a 6- or 4- or 7-gallon, and the thing just plain old doesn’t flush (with a retrofit device), it’s bye-bye . . . most of them will be fine, some won’t be.”

In its letter to escrow companies, the city said it is amending the “9A” form, which requires smoke detectors and tempered-glass doors, to include the stipulations for water-saving showers and toilets. It also has set up a hot line for the anticipated flood of inquiries. “I expect our hot line to really start ringing,” said Michael Biagi, building and safety administrative assistant.

Los Angeles real estate saleswoman Liz Johnson suggested that any repairs under the water-saving requirement could be negotiated as part of the price of the house, so “it’s not like somebody reaching in the seller’s pocket.”

“One thing you can call this bill is full employment for plumbers,” said Johnson, who estimates that the majority of Los Angeles’ aging housing stock could require plumbing overhaul before being sold.

Toilets Taken Seriously

But it is the toilet supply question that has thrown officials into a quandary. And whatever quips Johnny Carson might make, the city takes the toilet topic seriously: almost one-fourth of all the water used in any dwelling is used to flush toilets.

(Included in this month’s DWP bills is an offer for free, easy-to-use water-saving toilet and shower kits.)

Rick Ruiz, assistant to Councilwoman Ruth Galanter, who proposed the 1.5-gallon toilet requirement, said they learned “almost the day after approval” that supply would be a problem. Some toilet manufacturers, he added, have been asking for a six-month delay in enforcement.

The Americanization of the 1.5-gallon toilet, widely in use in Europe, has burst on the plumbing supply industry with some of the suddenness that left the auto industry flatfooted after the 1973 oil embargo.

“It’s the same exact analogy,” said David Harris, Western general sales manager for American Standard Inc. Although it markets many water-saving faucets and showerheads, Harris said, none of its 28 toilets are of the 1.5 gallon variety, although two are in the works.

“We’re in favor of it,” he said, but “the industry is geared to reacting on a certain time schedule, (and) all of a sudden something zips past the City Council one day and it’s enforceable 30 days later. I think you can see the frustration there.”

In the last two years, the 1.5-gallon toilets, which can cost up to $300, have become the rule in such places as the Monterey Peninsula. Massachusetts and parts of the Delaware River Basin will require them next year, and Santa Monica requires them as of last week.

Whatever industry’s arguments, from planners’ point of view, said Carmel’s Tim Meroney, “I don’t think it’s coming as a panic thing. Populations are growing, housing is growing, demand keeps growing and rainfall keeps staying about the same.”

Demand Increased

Eljer and Aqua-Line, divisions of plumbing manufacturer Household International, last year shipped 60,000 ultra-low flush models, according to product development director Myron Ament, and will be more than doubling that in 1989. It is still a small percentage of their production, but “You aren’t gonna make candy if it’s not gonna sell.” Until recent laws mandating water-saving toilets, “there just wasn’t the demand for it.”

Unlike any other city in the country, Los Angeles has its own municipal testing lab for mechanical and electrical devices and for plumbing. In a lab near the Los Angeles River, engineers test backflow devices, solar collectors, commercial washers--and toilets. To be used in Los Angeles, a product must pass city tests, and be listed in the quarterly “blue book” inspectors carry.

Determining Standards

Sometimes the city takes the word of industry certification boards, like Underwriters Laboratories. Sometimes--as with 1.5-gallon toilets--the city’s own standards prevail. With three currently being tested, only a Swedish model, IFO, has passed the city’s stringent exam.

The test lab was founded 30 years ago, when standards were more erratic and less uniform, said R.J. Martin, chief plumbing inspector. Since then, Los Angeles’ strict standards have been adopted by cities like Chicago.

Testing a new model, technician Hai Nguyen performs a half-dozen tests at a variety of water pressures: flushing away six wads of exactly eight crumpled squares of single-ply toilet paper, flushing off a blue-ink line, flushing away several plastic balls.

This particular model is board-approved, but could not pass the city’s tests. With many outside approvals, Martin said, “they just have a group of people evaluate the manufacturers’ reports, lab test reports, whereas our lab, we actually test them and approve them and that’s the big difference.”

“We feel it’s very important because we don’t want to put in these thousands of toilets and not have them work,” Martin said.

Concern has been voiced about the efficiency of the 1.5-gallon models in moving waste. With the new models in Santa Monica City Hall, people have noticed “differences in levels of cleanliness,” said Craig Perkins, a city building official. “We have had some problems in the last couple of months with higher than average clogging of the lines.”

But “it’s not really an option” any more, he said. “It’s just going to take a little getting used to, similar to the difference between a gas-guzzling car and a 4-cylinder car. Performance may not be the same, but we just don’t have a choice any more.”