COUNTYWIDE : Low-Flush Toilet Models Are Displayed

In parched Ventura County, it just may be that the ultra-low flush toilet, which uses 1.6 gallons or less of water per flush, has replaced real estate as the favorite topic of cocktail-party conversation.

At a recent forum sponsored by the Ventura County Water Conservation Program, Etablissements Porcher, a French manufacturer, even introduced an ultra-low flush toilet for the status-minded.

Called the Veneto, the unit “flushes efficiently on only 1 1/2 gallons” and “can save a family of four 25,000 gallons of water a year,” according to the company’s sales brochure.

A Veneto model on display came in coraline, a salmon-like hue, and had gold-plated brass fittings.

The price: $1,000, plus installation.

In all, 18 models of water-stingy toilets, ranging in retail price from about $100 upward, were on display in the Camarillo Community Center.

The manufacturers all claimed that the units will satisfy the Ventura city rationing law that requires residents to install ultra-low flush toilets and other water-saving devices before they can apply for increased allotments. Above-average-size families and homes with toilets using 3.5 gallons or less per flush may be exempted from the retrofitting requirement at the May 7 meeting.

Most experts agree that the toilet is the No. 1 water user in U.S. homes--accounting for at least 25% of most families’ usage. In contrast to the ultra-low flush units, which were introduced in Sweden in 1973, the vast majority of American toilets use from 3 to 7 gallons per flush.

Wendy L. Corpening, a plumbing industry consultant, told about 150 local officials, plumbing contractors and others that about 1 million ultra-low flush toilets have been installed in U.S. bathrooms. This year, she said, U.S. manufacturers are expected to produce 2.4 million more.

There are two basic ultra-low flush systems: gravity feed, a redesigned version of the conventional toilet, and the turbo type, which combines air and water pressure and is usually activated by pressing a button on the tank lid. The turbo types tend to be noisier and more expensive, but they’re more effective than gravity units.

One audience member at the Camarillo forum, Andy Lyskin, of Vic’s Plumbing Supply Co. in Ventura, suggested that the city of Ventura should offer rebates to residents replacing older toilets, as the cities of Los Angeles and Santa Monica have done.

Another member of the audience noted that a tank dam, a plastic object to reduce the amount of water flowing into a toilet tank, costs only about $6.95. “They don’t always work, but they’re better than nothing,” a panelist said.

And, at no cost at all, Ventura city residents can fill plastic bags with water and put them in toilet tanks. City spokeswoman Carol Green said Friday that “boxes and boxes” of the free bags have been given away at City Hall. The city has also given away at least 6,000 low-flow shower heads, she said.